UPDATE: Goldman Sachs Reiterates Sell Rating, Lowers PT for Progressive Corporation

In a company update published earlier today, the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. reiterated its Sell rating for the Progressive Corporation (NYSE: PGR), but slightly lowered its price target from $21.00 to $20.00.

Goldman Sachs went on to say “Last week Progressive reported May operating results and held its 2012 investor day in New York. Progressive reported results that fell below our expectations in May, due in part to unfavorable reserve development, but also due to worse underlying trends that appear to reflect continuing challenges in a few key states. Given the short-tailed nature of PGR's business, we expect that most of these issues will be relevant to 2012, and as a result our 2013-2014 estimates remain unchanged. We note that premium growth has been better than we had expected and commentary and tone around Snapshot (PGR's usage-based insurance product) continued to reflect optimism around growth potential.”

The Progressive Corporation closed yesterday at $21.00.