Progressive price target raised to $300 from $260 at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley analyst Bob Huang raised the firm’s price target on Progressive to $300 from $260 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. While personal auto carriersare slowly turning to profitability, and most of the top 10 carriers are seeing double digit premium growth, this was likely due in large part by pricing increases. However, Progressive is seeing strong premium growth driven largely by policy-in-force additions, says the analyst, who notes that the competitive environment is increasing, but believes “only a small handful of peers are in a position to challenge Progressive’s PIF growth.”