PGR · Financials(fire, marine & casualty insurance) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2025-12-31
Progressive Corp reported revenue of $87.7 billion in fiscal 2025, after growing 15.8% a year over the previous 9 years. Its operating margin widened from 6.9% in 2016 to 16.5%, and it earned 38.0% on its invested capital in the latest year. Of the $83.9 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 14.9% went to dividends. On the accounting screens, it passes 4 of 7 Piotroski tests; none of the six cross-checks between its statements fires.
Revenue, fiscal 202587.7B+15.8% a year over 9 years
Operating margin16.5%gross margin —
Return on invested capital38.0%23.5% on average over 5 years
Free cash flow after stock pay17.1B19.5% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDANet cash138.0M more cash than debt
Piotroski F-score4/7tests of improvement passed
Is it growing?
Revenue and the operating income it turns into. Growth that does not reach operating income is growth bought with margin.
RevenueOperating income
025.0B50.0B75.0B100.0B
2016Revenue 23.4BOperating income 1.6B
2017Revenue 26.8BOperating income 2.3B
2018Revenue 32.0BOperating income 3.3B
2019Revenue 39.0BOperating income 5.3B
2020Revenue 42.7BOperating income 7.4B
2021Revenue 47.7BOperating income 4.4B
2022Revenue 49.6BOperating income 1.2B
2023Revenue 62.1BOperating income 5.2B
2024Revenue 75.4BOperating income 11.0B
2025Revenue 87.7BOperating income 14.5B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
+20.9%
+15.5%
+15.8%
Operating income
+131.7%
+14.4%
+27.6%
Net income
+150.2%
+14.7%
+30.5%
Earnings per share
+150.1%
+14.6%
+30.4%
Free cash flow per share
+37.8%
+20.8%
+23.7%
Dividend per share
+130.5%
+13.1%
+20.9%
Shares
+0.1%
+0.0%
+0.1%
Falling shares are buybacks: each remaining share owns more of the company.
Does it earn more than its capital costs?
Margins say how much of each sale is kept; return on invested capital says how much the business earns on the money it needs to operate. Growth only creates value when that return is above the cost of the capital.
GrossOperatingNetFree cash flow
0.0%5.0%10.0%15.0%20.0%
2016Operating 6.9%Net 4.4%Free cash flow 10.7%
2017Operating 8.5%Net 5.9%Free cash flow 13.4%
2018Operating 10.4%Net 8.2%Free cash flow 18.8%
2019Operating 13.7%Net 10.2%Free cash flow 15.1%
2020Operating 17.3%Net 13.4%Free cash flow 15.7%
2021Operating 9.3%Net 7.0%Free cash flow 15.8%
2022Operating 2.4%Net 1.5%Free cash flow 13.2%
2023Operating 8.3%Net 6.3%Free cash flow 16.7%
2024Operating 14.6%Net 11.3%Free cash flow 19.7%
2025Operating 16.5%Net 12.9%Free cash flow 19.6%
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Return on invested capital
Return on invested capitalCost of capital today · 10.2%
0.0%10.0%20.0%30.0%40.0%
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020Return on invested capital 33.5%
2021Return on invested capital 19.3%
2022Return on invested capital 5.7%
2023Return on invested capital 20.3%
2024Return on invested capital 34.0%
2025Return on invested capital 38.0%
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Economic profit
Economic profit
-2.5B02.5B5.0B7.5B10.0B
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020Economic profit 4.1B
2021Economic profit 1.7B
2022Economic profit -704.6M
2023Economic profit 2.1B
2024Economic profit 6.1B
2025Economic profit 8.4B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
(return on capital − cost of capital) × capital invested: the profit left after paying for the money used. Today's cost of capital is applied to every year, since a past one cannot be rebuilt honestly.
Return on equity
37.3%
Return on assets
9.2%
Asset turnover
0.71×
Is the profit cash, and where does the cash go?
Net income is an accounting opinion; free cash flow is what was left in the bank after investing. Stock-based pay does not leave the bank — shareholders pay it through dilution — so it is shown taken off as well.
Net incomeFree cash flowAfter stock-based pay
05.0B10.0B15.0B20.0B
2016Net income 1.0BFree cash flow 2.5B
2017Net income 1.6BFree cash flow 3.6B
2018Net income 2.6BFree cash flow 6.0B
2019Net income 4.0BFree cash flow 5.9B
2020Net income 5.7BFree cash flow 6.7B
2021Net income 3.4BFree cash flow 7.5B
2022Net income 722.0MFree cash flow 6.6B
2023Net income 3.9BFree cash flow 10.4BAfter stock-based pay 10.3B
2024Net income 8.5BFree cash flow 14.8BAfter stock-based pay 14.7B
2025Net income 11.3BFree cash flow 17.2BAfter stock-based pay 17.1B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2016–2025
83.9B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 3%2.6B
Acquisitions 0%331.3M
Dividends 15%12.5B
Share buybacks 0%192.5M
Kept, or used to pay down debt 81%68.2B
Over the same years it paid 375.0M in stock. The share count rose 0.5%. The buybacks did not even cover what was handed out in stock.
Per share
Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share
$0.00$10.00$20.00$30.00
2016Earnings per share $1.76Free cash flow per share $4.30Dividend per share $0.89
2017Earnings per share $2.72Free cash flow per share $6.15Dividend per share $0.68
2018Earnings per share $4.46Free cash flow per share $10.26Dividend per share $1.12
2019Earnings per share $6.76Free cash flow per share $10.04Dividend per share $2.80
2020Earnings per share $9.71Free cash flow per share $11.37Dividend per share $2.64
2021Earnings per share $5.71Free cash flow per share $12.81Dividend per share $6.38
2022Earnings per share $1.23Free cash flow per share $11.17Dividend per share $0.40
2023Earnings per share $6.64Free cash flow per share $17.69Dividend per share $0.40
2024Earnings per share $14.43Free cash flow per share $25.24Dividend per share $1.15
2025Earnings per share $19.23Free cash flow per share $29.25Dividend per share $4.88
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
585.0M586.0M587.0M588.0M589.0M
2016Diluted shares 585.0M
2017Diluted shares 585.7M
2018Diluted shares 586.7M
2019Diluted shares 587.2M
2020Diluted shares 587.6M
2021Diluted shares 587.1M
2022Diluted shares 587.1M
2023Diluted shares 587.5M
2024Diluted shares 587.7M
2025Diluted shares 588.1M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
How strong is the balance sheet?
Debt is not bad in itself; debt the business cannot service in a bad year is. Net debt is debt minus cash, and below zero the company holds more cash than it owes.
Net debt
-400.0M-200.0M0200.0M400.0M600.0M
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020Net debt 423.5M
2021Net debt -202.0M
2022Net debt -221.0M
2023Net debt -100.0M
2024Net debt -154.0M
2025Net debt -138.0M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
-0.0×
Interest coverage
52× operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
— current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
—
Three classic screens of the accounts
Each asks a different question of the same statements — is it improving, does it look like a company heading for distress, do the accounts resemble ones that were manipulated. None is a verdict; each shows what moves it.
Piotroski F-score
Is the business improving? Nine yes-or-no tests, this year against last.
4of 7 tests passed
✓ProfitableReturn on assets above zeropassed
✓Cash from operationsOperating cash flow above zeropassed
✓Profitability improvedReturn on assets higher than a year beforepassed
✓Profit backed by cashOperating cash flow above net income (low accruals)passed
✕Less long-term debtLong-term debt as a share of assets fellfailed
–More liquidCurrent ratio higher than a year before — not reportedno data
✕No new sharesShare count did not growfailed
–Better gross marginGross margin higher than a year before — not reportedno data
✕Sells more per assetAsset turnover higher than a year beforefailed
Where it misleads: it measures change, not level. An excellent business that stood still for a year scores low; a poor one recovering from a disaster scores high.
Altman Z''-score
Does the balance sheet look like those of companies that went bankrupt?
The accounts lack a line it needs (retained earnings, current assets or liabilities).
Beneish M-score
Do the accounts resemble those of companies that manipulated their earnings?
The accounts lack too many of the lines it needs.
Where the statements disagree
Cross-checks between the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow for the latest year, each with the benign reading and the worrying one.
None of the six cross-checks fires for the latest year: receivables and inventory move with revenue, profit turns into cash, investment keeps up with depreciation, the tax rate is ordinary and debt is moderate.
What is it worth, under which assumptions?
A company is worth the cash it will generate, brought back to today. This model projects revenue with growth that fades over the years, applies a free cash flow margin, and discounts the result at the cost of capital. Every assumption says where it came from, and all of them can be changed.
Value per share, with these assumptions$355.64discounted at 10.2% a year · 53% of it from after year 10
Type a share price on the left to ask the reverse questions: what growth, what margin or what discount rate that price implies.
What the value implies, in the usual multiples
At this model's value
Price ÷ earnings
18.5×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
14.1×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
2.4×
Free cash flow yield
8.2%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today98.0B
Everything after, today111.0B
The whole business209.0B
Plus net cash138.0M
What belongs to shareholders209.2B
Divided among 588.1M shares: <strong>$355.64</strong> each.
The projection next to its history
Reported free cash flow after stock pay, then the model's. A projection that looks nothing like the past needs a reason.
ReportedProjected
010.0B20.0B30.0B
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023Reported 10.3B
2024Reported 14.7B
2025Reported 17.1B
2026Projected 10.8B
2027Projected 12.3B
2028Projected 13.8B
2029Projected 15.4B
2030Projected 16.9B
2031Projected 18.3B
2032Projected 19.5B
2033Projected 20.6B
2034Projected 21.4B
2035Projected 21.9B
2016201820202022202420262028203020322034
Year by year
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
Revenue
101.3B
115.5B
130.1B
144.6B
158.6B
171.8B
183.5B
193.4B
201.0B
206.0B
Growth
15.5%
14.1%
12.6%
11.2%
9.7%
8.3%
6.8%
5.4%
3.9%
2.5%
Cash margin
10.6%
10.6%
10.6%
10.6%
10.6%
10.6%
10.6%
10.6%
10.6%
10.6%
Free cash flow
10.8B
12.3B
13.8B
15.4B
16.9B
18.3B
19.5B
20.6B
21.4B
21.9B
Worth today
9.8B
10.1B
10.4B
10.4B
10.4B
10.2B
9.9B
9.5B
8.9B
8.3B
If the least-known inputs move
Value per share as two inputs change at a time. Neighbouring cells that differ a lot are the conclusion: the value depends on numbers nobody knows to a point.
The discount rate and growth forever
discount ↓ · forever →
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
3.5%
9.2%
368
389
413
441
474
9.7%
343
362
382
406
434
10.2%
322
338
356
376
399
10.7%
303
317
332
350
370
11.2%
286
298
312
327
344
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
11.5%
13.5%
15.5%
17.5%
19.5%
8.5%
257
278
300
324
349
9.6%
281
303
328
354
382
10.6%
304
329
356
384
415
11.7%
327
354
383
415
448
12.8%
351
380
411
445
481
All the inputs moving at once
5,000 valuations, each with growth, final margin, discount rate and growth forever drawn at random around the values on the left (spreads of 3.0%, 2.0%, 1.0% and 0.5%). Not a probability — the spreads are assumptions too — but an honest picture of how wide the answer is.
10th percentile$263.20
Median$356.86
90th percentile$487.61
$400.00$600.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$302.87</b> and <b>$418.18</b>; one in ten below $263.20, one in ten above $487.61.
Does the long run make sense?
8.4×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 8.4 times that year's EBITDA.
13%To grow 2.5% forever while reinvesting 19% of its after-tax operating profit, the business must earn 13% on the new capital — it has earned 23% on average over the last five years.
53%of the value comes from after year 10. The more of it, the more the answer depends on the part nobody can see.
What lenders charge, after the tax saving on interest: 6.68% × (1 − 20.5%) = <strong>5.31%</strong>.
Weighted by how much of each the company uses (book value (no price given)): <strong>10.18%</strong>, the rate every future cash flow is discounted at.
What it has filed lately
The last twelve months at the SEC, most important first: annual and quarterly reports, events, large holders and insiders.
Accounts from the company's own SEC filings; lines some companies do not report are shown as a dash rather than estimated. The risk-free rate is the 10-year US Treasury yield. A DCF is a way of making assumptions explicit, not a forecast: it states what the company would be worth if the assumptions held. The scores are screens that point where to look, not verdicts. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell.