Progressive upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler analyst Paul Newsome upgraded Progressive to Neutral from Underweight with a price target of $138, up from $133. The analyst made number of rating changes in insurance to better reflect the Q4 results and updated views on the group. "Smaller and weaker" companies will generally trade differently than larger insurers today, the firm tells investors in a research note. It thinks rising interest rates will cause smaller and weaker companies to trade closer to reported book value because investors will assume that they will ultimately have to realize unrealized investment losses. Second, the smaller companies are all more affected by higher reinsurance prices, Piper adds.