Piper Jaffray Lowers Progressive PT, Maintains Neutral

Piper Jaffray lowered its Progressive PGR price target from $22 to $20 and maintained its Progressive Neutral rating in a research report published today. In the report, Piper Jaffray states, "Progressive reported operating EPS of $0.08 for the month of June 2011, $0.35 for the 2Q11 period, below our $0.13 and $0.40 estimates. The shortfall resulted from higher than modeled L&LAE driven by cat losses. Despite elevated cat activity, PGR generated a 93.4% combined ratio for the quarter, up about 80bps year/year." Shares of Progressive were trading at $20.33 at the time of posting, down 2.82% from Wednesday's market close.