Allstate (NYSE:ALL) Trading Up 3.3% – Still a Buy?

The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) shares rose 3.3% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $212.91 and last traded at $211.70. Approximately 1,018,564 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 1,495,591 shares. The stock had previously closed at $204.87.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.94.

Allstate Trading Down 1.7 %

The company has a market cap of $54.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $193.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $193.07. 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 (NYSE:ALL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

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

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Allstate

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Allstate by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,635,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,291,783,000 after purchasing an additional 389,426 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Allstate by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,496,306 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,190,758,000 after purchasing an additional 126,922 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Allstate by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,334,926 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,799,681,000 after purchasing an additional 218,771 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Allstate by 157.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,591,138 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,270,705,000 after purchasing an additional 4,035,629 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Allstate by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,419,728 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,236,060,000 after purchasing an additional 191,147 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.