Allstate (NYSE:ALL) Upgraded at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of Allstate (NYSE:ALL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on ALL. UBS Group raised their target price on Allstate from $216.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Allstate from $231.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays lowered their price target on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Allstate from $220.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.94.

Allstate Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE ALL opened at $199.65 on Monday. Allstate has a 12-month low of $154.76 and a 12-month high of $209.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $52.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $190.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $191.47.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Allstate will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $7,480,226.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Allstate

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ALL. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 7.7% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,972 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 1.3% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 4,630 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $893,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 18.4% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 51,032 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,678,000 after buying an additional 7,940 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate in the third quarter worth $254,000. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 1.4% in the third quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 9,679 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,836,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Company Profile

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.