UPDATE: Evercore Partners Raises PT to $22 on Progressive

Evercore Partners raises its price target on Equal-weight-rated Progressive PGR by $1 to $22 to reflect stronger policy-inforce (PIF) growth. Evercore Partners notes, "Since 2002, Progressive has traded on average at 13.5x FY1 EPS, with a high of 21.2x and a low of 9.4x, with average EPS growth of 16%. Since we expect EPS to grow 10% over the next couple of years, but expect near term PIF growth to accelerate, we believe the stock should trade in line with its historical average forward P/E multiple. Risks include: 1) slowing top line growth due to industry headwinds. 2) Increasing competition among personal auto insurers." PGR closed at $21.64 yesterday.