The Progressive Corporation’s PGR fourth-quarter 2025 earnings per share of $4.67 beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.2%. The bottom line increased 14.4% year over year.
Operating revenues increased 10.6% year over year to $22.49 billion and beat the consensus estimate by 2.5%.
The Progressive Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
The Progressive Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | The Progressive Corporation Quote
Behind the Headlines
Net premiums written were $19.5 billion in the quarter, up 8% from $18.1 billion a year ago.
Net premiums earned grew 10% to $21 billion. The reported figure surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $20.9 billion.
Net realized gain on securities was $257 million versus a loss of $53 million in the year-ago quarter.
Combined ratio — the percentage of premiums paid out as claims and expenses — deteriorated 10 basis points (bps) from the prior-year quarter’s level to 88.
Full-Year Highlights
Operating revenues grew 15.7% year over year to $86.9 billion, driven by 15.3% higher net premiums earned, a 26.5% increase in net investment income, a 12.4% rise in fees and other revenues, and 22% higher service.
Total expenses rose 13.5% to $73.4 billion, attributable to 10% higher losses and loss adjustment expenses, a 13.2% increase in policy acquisition costs, a 19.7% rise in other underwriting expenses, an 18.3% jump in service expenses, a 17.2% improvement in investment expenses, and a policyholder credit expense.
Combined ratio improved 140 bps to 87.4.
December Policies in Force
Policies in force were solid in the Personal Lines segment, increasing 11% from the year-ago month’s figure to 37.4 million. Special Lines improved 7% to 6.9 million.
In the Personal Auto segment, Direct Auto increased 14% year over year to 16 million, while Agency Auto increased 10% to 10.8 million.
Progressive’s Commercial Auto segment rose 4% year over year to 1.2 million. The Property business had 3.6 million policies in force, up 4%.
Financial Update
Progressive’s book value per share was $51.74 as of Dec. 30, 2025, up 18.4% from $43.67 as of Dec. 30, 2024.
Return on equity in December 2025 was 40.1%, up from 36.4% reported in the year-ago period. The total debt-to-total capital ratio improved 270 bps to 18.5.
Zacks Rank
Progressive currently has a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Performance of Other Insurers
The Travelers Companies, Inc. TRV reported fourth-quarter 2025 core income of $11.13 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 32% and improved 22% year over year. Travelers’ total revenues increased 3.2% from the year-ago quarter to $12.4 billion, primarily driven by higher premiums, net investment income, and other revenues. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.08%.
Net written premiums increased 1% year over year to a record $10.8 billion. Net investment income increased 10.3% year over year to $1 billion. The figure matched the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Travelers witnessed an underwriting gain of $1.7 billion, up 21.7% year over year. The consolidated underlying combined ratio of 82.2 improved 180 bps year over year.
RLI Corp. RLI reported fourth-quarter 2025 operating earnings of 94 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 23.6%. The bottom line increased 80.8% from the prior-year quarter. Operating revenues for the reported quarter were $449 million, up 3% year over year. The top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.4%.
Gross premiums written decreased 2.1% year over year to $463.2 million. This can be attributed to the poor performance of the Property Segment. Our estimate was $505.2 million. Net investment income increased 9.2% year over year to $42.3 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was $42.9 million, while our estimate for the metric was pegged at $44.5 million. The investment portfolio’s total return was 1.5% in the quarter.
W.R. Berkley Corporation’s WRB fourth-quarter 2025 operating income of $1.13 per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.9%. The bottom line remained flat year over year. W.R. Berkley’s net premiums written were $3 billion, up 2.1% year over year. The figure was lower than our estimate of $3.2 billion. Operating revenues came in at $3.7 billion, up 5.9% year over year. However, the top line missed the consensus estimate by 0.9%.
Net investment income grew 6.6% to $338.2 million. Total expenses increased 7.2% to $3.1 billion, driven by higher losses and loss expenses. This was quite close to our estimate of $3.2 billion.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
