The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation, thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $219.80.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays reduced their price target on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th.

Allstate Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ALL opened at $206.46 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $195.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $193.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40. Allstate has a one year low of $156.66 and a one year high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Allstate will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total transaction of $7,480,226.06. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Allstate

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Allstate by 157.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,591,138 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,270,705,000 after purchasing an additional 4,035,629 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at about $344,354,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in Allstate by 64.1% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,316,516 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $832,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,685,694 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in Allstate by 15,062.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,119,129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $215,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 1,303.3% in the 4th quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 824,838 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $159,021,000 after acquiring an additional 766,058 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

About Allstate

The Allstate Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides property and casualty, and other insurance products in the United States and Canada. It operates in five segments: Allstate Protection; Protection Services; Allstate Health and Benefits; Run-off Property-Liability; and Corporate and Other segments.