U.S. Stock Movers: General Mills, J.Jill, Ping An Insurance, Progressive Corp., Signet Jewelers, Tencent Holdings, Williams Sanoma

Scott Peters
20 Mar, 2025
New York City

Progressive Corp. plunged 4% to $271.86 after the car and residential property insurance company reported results for 2024.

Revenue increased to $75.4 billion from $62.1 billion, net income jumped to $8.5 billion from $3.9 billion, and earnings per share rose to $14.40 from $6.58 a year ago.

Revenue in the fourth quarter climbed 8% to $623.3 million from $577.4 million, net income edged up 19% to $2.36 billion from $1.99 billion, and earnings per share rose to $4.01 from $3.37 a year earlier.

During the year, the company repurchased 665,095 shares at $201.31 per share for a total worth $134 million.

The insurance company has no debt maturities until 2027.

“In 2024, we announced a $4.50 per share annual variable dividend and finished the year with a debt-to-total capital ratio of 21.2%, which is near the lower end of our historical range,” the company said in a release to investors.

During the year, the company’s investment portfolio returned 4.6%, the fixed-income return was 3.8%, and the equity portfolio returned 22.9%.

General Mills Inc. eased 1.9% to $59.31 after the food provider and parent company of Cheerios reported lower sales in the third quarter of fiscal 2025 ending in February.

Net sales dropped 5% to $4.84 billion from $5.10 billion, net income declined 7% to $625.6 million from $670.1 million, and diluted earnings per share edged down to $1.12 from $1.17 a year ago.

The North America retail segment accounted for the highest percentage of total sales, down 7% to $3.01 billion from $3.24 billion a year earlier.

“The company expects macroeconomic uncertainty to continue to impact consumers in the fourth quarter. Its fourth-quarter plans include investments in consumer value, media support, and in-store visibility,” the company said in a release to investors.

Excluding new tariff threats, General Mills estimated net sales in the fourth quarter to be down between 2% and 1.5%, compared to the previous guidance of the lower end in the range between flat and up 1%.

Adjusted operating profit and adjusted diluted earnings per share are expected to be down between 8% and 7% in constant currency, compared to the previous guidance range of between down 4% and down 2%.

Free cash flow conversion is still expected to be at least 95% of adjusted after-tax earnings.

Signet Jewelers Ltd. surged 17.8% to $56.91 after the diamond jewelry retailer reported lower sales in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Sales declined to $2.35 billion from $2.50 billion, net income slumped to $100.6 million from $617.6 million, and diluted earnings per share fell to $2.30 from $11.75 a year ago.

Sales in the full year decreased to $6.70 billion from $7.17 billion, net income swung to a loss of $35.6 million compared to a profit of $775.9 million, and diluted loss per share was 81 cents compared to a profit of $15.01 a year ago.

“Signet delivered more than $400 million of free cash flow, our 5th year in a row of strong cash conversion to adjusted operating income. 

This enabled a reduction in our diluted share count by nearly 20% in FY25 by returning approximately $1 billion to shareholders, including the convertible preferred redemptions,” the company said in a release to investors.

“We are focused on real estate optimization and expect to transition over 10% of mall locations to off-mall and the e-commerce channel over the next three years, leveraging our average mall lease term of just over 2 years.”

J. Jill Inc. gained 1% to $18.79 after the apparel and accessories retailer reported lower sales in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Net sales decreased to $142.84 million from $150.26 million, net income slumped to $2.25 million from $4.77 million, and diluted earnings per share fell to 14 cents from 33 cents a year ago.

Comparable store sales increased by 1.9% in the quarter and were up 1.5% in the full year compared to 2023.

Net sales for the full year jumped to $610.86 million from $608.04 million, net income climbed to $39.48 million from $36.20 million, and diluted earnings per share rose to $2.61 from $2.51 a year earlier.

The company opened five new stores in the fourth quarter and nine new stores during the year, bringing the total count to 525 stores.

J.Jill guided for the first quarter of 2025 net sales to decline between 1% and 4%, with comparable sales down between 2% and 5% compared to 2024.

Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $25.0 million and $27.0 million, compared to $35.6 million in the first quarter last year.

For the full year, the apparel retailer estimated sales growth to be up between 1% and 3%, comparable sales flat to up 2% compared to 2024, and new net store growth of 5 to 10 stores.

Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $101.0 million and $106.0 million, compared to $107.1 million in 2024.

In December, the company authorized a share repurchase program for up to $25.0 million over the next two years.

In the fourth quarter, J.Jill purchased 19,831 shares and has $24.5 million of remaining authorization.

The company increased its quarterly dividend by 14.3% to 8 cents per share from the previous dividend of 7 cents per share, equal to an annualized dividend of 32 cents per share, and payable on April 16 to stockholders on record as of April 2.

Tencent Holdings Ltd. dropped 3.4% to $521.50 despite the China-based Internet and technology company reporting strong results in the fourth quarter of 2024, driven by a surge in gaming and advertising revenue.

Revenue increased to 172.45 billion yuan from 155.20 billion yuan, net income jumped to 51.32 billion yuan from 27.02 billion yuan, and diluted earnings per share rose to 5.485 yuan from 2.807 yuan a year ago.

The company more than doubled its share repurchase program to approximately HK $112 billion, as it steps up with AI investments for growth and ramps up spending on chips and servers.

Tencent paid a cash dividend of HK $3.40 per share in 2024, equivalent to approximately HK $32 billion.

For 2025, the company proposed an increase of the annual dividend by 32% to HK $4.50 per share, equivalent to approximately HK $41 billion, and the company plans to repurchase at least HK $80 billion worth of shares.

Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd. dropped 4.3% to $49.65 after the Chinese insurance company reported results for 2024.

Revenue increased to 1.14 trillion yuan from 1.03 trillion yuan, profit jumped to 126.61 billion yuan from 85.66 billion yuan, and diluted earnings per share rose to 6.99 yuan from 4.74 yuan a year ago.

The sharp rise in net profit is driven by growth in the company’s life and health insurance business as demand recovered.

The new business value of the life and health insurance business, which measures the profitability of new policies sold, grew by 28.8% to 28.53 billion yuan last year.

The group's number of new customers rose 9.8% from a year earlier to 32.07 million.