Progressive (PGR) Competitors

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) and Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, community ranking, dividends and earnings.

Do insiders and institutionals believe in PGR or TRV?

85.3% of Progressive shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.5% of Travelers Companies shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Progressive shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Travelers Companies shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, PGR or TRV?

Progressive has a beta of 0.42, meaning that its share price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Travelers Companies has a beta of 0.64, meaning that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer PGR or TRV?

Progressive presently has a consensus target price of $276.12, indicating a potential upside of 3.81%. Travelers Companies has a consensus target price of $261.05, indicating a potential upside of 8.82%. Given Travelers Companies' higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Travelers Companies is more favorable than Progressive.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Progressive	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Travelers Companies	4 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.26

Does the media refer more to PGR or TRV?

In the previous week, Progressive had 25 more articles in the media than Travelers Companies. MarketBeat recorded 62 mentions for Progressive and 37 mentions for Travelers Companies. Progressive's average media sentiment score of 1.32 beat Travelers Companies' score of 0.68 indicating that Progressive is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Progressive	47 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Travelers Companies	20 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is PGR or TRV more profitable?

Progressive has a net margin of 11.25% compared to Travelers Companies' net margin of 10.77%. Progressive's return on equity of 33.79% beat Travelers Companies' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Progressive	11.25%	33.79%	8.21%
Travelers Companies	10.77%	19.06%	3.83%

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, PGR or TRV?

Progressive has higher revenue and earnings than Travelers Companies. Travelers Companies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Progressive, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Progressive	$75.37B	2.07	$8.48B	$14.40	18.47
Travelers Companies	$46.42B	1.17	$5.00B	$21.47	11.17

Does the MarketBeat Community favor PGR or TRV?

Progressive received 13 more outperform votes than Travelers Companies when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 54.49% of users gave Progressive an outperform vote while only 52.93% of users gave Travelers Companies an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Progressive	Outperform Votes 601 54.49%	Underperform Votes 502 45.51%
Travelers Companies	Outperform Votes 588 52.93%	Underperform Votes 523 47.07%

Is PGR or TRV a better dividend stock?

Progressive pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Travelers Companies pays an annual dividend of $4.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Progressive pays out 2.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Travelers Companies pays out 19.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Travelers Companies has increased its dividend for 20 consecutive years. Travelers Companies is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Progressive beats Travelers Companies on 15 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.