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Progressive's Underlying Loss Ratios Could Continue to Trend Higher, UBS Says

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Progressive's (PGR) underlying loss ratio could continue to move higher as pricing trends remain below loss-cost inflation, while policies in force growth decelerates in an increasingly competitive landscape, UBS said in a note Friday.

The company posted worse-than-expected underlying loss ratio in August, but the EPS beat was driven by better-than-expected net favorable reserve development and lower catastrophe losses, the note said.

There was also a $19 million adverse actuarial reserve development in the commercial auto segment in August, which is historically the second-worst month for underlying loss ratios, according to the note.

UBS reiterated its neutral rating on the stock and price target of $234 per share.

Price: $213.45, Change: $-0.03, Percent Change: -0.02%

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VerifyMe Declares Special Dividend Tied to Open World Deal; Shares Rise After Hours

VerifyMe (VRME) declared a special cash dividend of $0.15 a share, contingent on the closing of its proposed merger with Open World.The dividend would be paid to holders of common stock and Series B convertible preferred stock on an as-converted basis, the company said Friday in a statement.If the merger closes, VerifyMe expects to pay the dividend on Oct. 2 to shareholders of record Sept. 29.VerifyMe shares rose 23% in after-hours trading.

$VRME
Wire

Roundtable Shares Fall After Clarifying Paradium.AI Deal

Roundtable (RTB) shares fell 7.7% in Friday trading after the company issued a statement on its 10-year agreement with Paradium.AI (PAAI), formerly Arena Group, to clarify the accord isn't an acquisition or tender offer.Roundtable announced the strategic deal on Thursday to migrate, operate, and monetize Arena's media portfolio on the company's AI and DeFi-powered MediaOS. Roundtable said it expects $100 million in annualized revenue,Roundtable said Friday it will acquire a minority stake directly from Paradium.AI's largest shareholder, with no plans to take majority control, and closing is expected in Q4, conditional on a required capital raise.The platform agreement includes $11.5 million of Roundtable stock for technology license transfer and other considerations, the company said Friday.Price: $8.02, Change: $-0.67, Percent Change: -7.71%

$PAAI$RTB
Wire

Donald Trump Bans CNN, MS NOW From White House

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD)-owned CNN, Versant Media-owned MS NOW, and Politico were banned from the White House, effective immediately, US President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social Post on Friday.Trump asserted that media outlets shouldn't be able to constantly report false news when covering the US President, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America, according to the post.The President also indicated in his post that more news outlets could face a similar outcome.CNN and MS NOW did not immediately respond to a request for comment from.Price: $27.78, Change: $-0.46, Percent Change: -1.63%

$VSNT$WBD