UPDATE: Citigroup Downgrades Progressive to Sell Following Special Dividend

Citigroup reduced its rating on Progressive

from Neutral to Sell and lowered its price target from $22 to $19 as it sees no further catalysts for the stock following a special dividend. Citigroup also added the stock to its Top Picks Live! list. Citigroup noted, "We see several headwinds: 1) deteriorating loss cost trends driven by increased severity and BI frequency; 2) industry-wide increase in ad spend (not just among the traditional big players); 3) pressure on the CR from Snapshot; 4) premium valuation trading at 15.8x our 2013E of $1.40, (~20% premium to 5-yr median fwd P/E of 13.3x)." Progressive closed at $22.20 on Friday.