For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 12, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Progressive Corporation (PGR), Allstate Corp. (ALL), Infinity Property and Casualty Corp. (IPCC), State Auto Financial Corp. (STFC) and Monsanto Company (MON).

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Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:

Progressive’s Income Falls

Auto insurer Progressive Corporation’s (PGR) income for October fell to 16 cents per share compared with 22 cents in the year-ago period. Though the company has posted a growth in premium writings, realized gains were lower in the quarter

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Auto insurer Progressive Corporation’s (PGR) income for October fell to 16 cents per share compared with 22 cents in the year-ago period. Though the company has posted a growth in premium writings, realized gains were lower in the quarter compared to the year-ago quarter. The company, which reports earnings on a monthly basis, disclosed an income of $106.7 million, down from $145.0 million in the prior-year period. Progressive’s net premiums written increased 3% year-over-year to $1.3 billion. The company recorded a pre-tax investment gain of $20.0 million, compared with $88.4 million in the year-ago quarter. Combined ratio, which reflects the percentage of premiums paid out as claims and expenses, improved to 91.6% from 93.2% recorded in the year-ago period. Policies in force (PIF) were good in Personal Auto and Special Lines, which were up 5% and 3% year-over-year, respectively. In Personal Auto, Direct Auto reported ...

Progressive Corp.’s (PGR) third quarter earnings of 40 cents per share were 7 pennies ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 33 cents. Investment gains coupled with increase in premiums written have contributed to this result. Also, provisions for income taxes were reduced by $18.0 million in September 2009. As with the improvement in investment market conditions, the company reversed the remaining valuation on its deferred tax asset. Progressive’s net premiums written increased 1% year-over-year to $3.55 billion. The company recorded a pre-tax investment gain of $38.8 million, compared to a loss of $1.4 billion in the year-ago quarter. Combined ratio, which reflects the percentage of premiums paid out as claims and expenses, improved to 92.7% from 95.1% recorded in the year-ago period. Policies in force were good in Personal Auto and Special Lines, which were up 5% and 3% year-over-year, respectively. In Personal Auto, ...

Progressive Corp. (PGR) is expected to release its third quarter results before the market opens on Oct 14. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for this stock is 33 cents per share. In the prior-year period, the company had reported earnings of 31 cents per share.   Progressive’s earnings for August were impressive as the company benefited from an increase in premiums written and steered clear of investment losses. The company, which reports earnings on a monthly basis, posted a profit of $55 million, or 8 cents per share, compared to a loss of $135.2 million, or 20 cents, a year ago. However, the Commercial Auto segment still remained a drag.   For July, earnings came in at 17 cents per share, significantly up from 12 cents per share reported in the year-ago period. Results reflected investment gains and favorable prior-period reserve releases. For July, Progressive experienced $37.3 million of ...

Growth remains a challenge at Progressive Corporation's (PGR) Commercial Auto and Agency Auto businesses. The economic downturn, combined with increased competition, has adversely affected both of these markets.

Policies in force in August for Commercial Auto and Agency Auto were down 5% and 1%, respectively. However, Direct Auto and Special Lines were up 12% and 3%, respectively.

Progressive's earnings for August were impressive as the company benefited from an increase in premiums written while steering clear of investment losses. The company, which reports earnings on a monthly basis, posted a profit of $55 million, or 8 cents per share, compared to a loss of $135.2 million, or 20 cents, a year ago.

Like Progressive, other auto insurance providers such as Allstate Corp. (ALL), Infinity Property and Casualty Corp. (IPCC) and State Auto Financial Corp. (STFC) have experienced the severe impact of the weak economy, which has significantly hampered

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Progressive Corp.’s (PGR) earnings for August were impressive as the company benefited from an increase in premiums written and steered clear of investment losses. However, Commercial Auto still remained a drag. The company, which reports earnings on a monthly basis, posted a profit of $55 million, or 8 cents per share, compared to a loss of $135.2 million, or 20 cents, a year ago.

Progressive’s net premiums written rose 4% year over year to $1.1 billion. It recorded a pretax investment gain of $5.6 million, compared to a loss of $317.5 million in the year-ago period. Combined ratio, which reflects the percentage of premiums paid out as claims and expenses, slightly deteriorated to 95.5% from 94.3% in the last year.

On Aug. 31, book value per share was $7.82 compared to $7.62 on July 31 and $7.24 on June 30. In August, the company repurchased 1.5 million shares

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Progressive Corp. (PGR) has entered into an agreement with Web.com to provide online marketing facility to its independent insurance agents as more than half of them do not have websites. According to the comScore Online Auto Insurance Report from April 2009, around three-fourths of auto insurance customers shop online and about two-thirds ultimately buy from an agent.

Web.com is a leader in providing online marketing for small businesses. According to the agreement, Progressive’s agent will get a discount on Web.com’s base pricing, a professionally designed website with a unique domain along with real-time agent quoting and servicing platform. In addition, agents will benefit from being listed on all major search engines and directories, access to a scorecard measuring real-time results and website analytics.

Progressive is one of the largest auto insurers in U.S., a leading independent agency writer of private passenger auto coverage, the largest seller of motorcycles

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Affirmative Insurance Holdings Inc.’s (AFFM) second quarter results were disappointing. The company reported a loss from continuing operations of $8.0 million or 52 cents per share. This compares with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a profit of 20 cents per share. The income from continuing operations was $2.9 million in the prior-year quarter. Results were significantly impacted by increased losses from unfavorable reserve development for prior accident years related to Florida, Michigan and Louisiana businesses. Affirmative has also sold all of its retail stores and its franchise business in Florida. Including the impact of this discontinued operation, the net loss for the quarter was $9.0 million, compared with net income of $2.3 million in the last year's second quarter. However, the company expects its pretax income to benefit by $1.0 to $1.5 million annually from the sale. Gross premiums written were down 9.8% year-over-year to ...

Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #1 Rank ("strong buy") List today:

Banco de Chile (BCH) Bancolombia SA (CIB) Boston Beer Company Inc (SAM) Cadbury Plc (CBY) Capital Bank Corp (CBKN) Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO) CNOOC Ltd (CEO) Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp (CTSH) Diodes Inc (DIOD) Dorman Products Inc (DORM) Emergency Medical Services Corp (EMS) Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd (FFH) Gymboree Corp (GYMB) Hershey Co (HSY) Hypercom Corp (HYC) ICICI Bank Ltd (IBN) Impax Laboratories Inc (IPXL) ...

On July 10, Ohio-based auto insurer Progressive Corp. (PGR) reported results for the second quarter of 2009. Earnings came in at $0.37 per share, one penny above the consensus estimate and up 15.6% from $0.32 per share reported in the prior-year period. Investment gains coupled with lower claims have contributed to this result.   Net premiums written increased 1% to $3.53 billion, while net premiums earned also increased 1% to $3.44 billion. Progressive experienced pre-tax investment gains of $15.9 million, versus a loss of $44.6 million in the year ago quarter. Combined ratio improved to 92.6% from 93.6% in the year ago quarter. The combined ratio reflects the percentage of premiums an insurance company pays to cover claims expenses.   However, growth remains a challenge at Progressive’s Commercial Auto and Agency Auto businesses. Economic downturn combined with increased competition has adversely affected both these markets. Commercial Auto business ...