Allstate (NYSE:ALL) Given New $228.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) had its price objective reduced by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $240.00 to $228.00 in a research report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ALL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price 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, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.00.

Allstate Stock Down 0.5 %

ALL stock traded down $0.94 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $192.06. 1,005,192 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,613,004. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $196.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36. Allstate has a 1-year low of $156.66 and a 1-year high of $212.91. The firm has a market cap of $50.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Allstate will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the business’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 value of $7,480,226.06. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Allstate by 157.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,591,138 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,270,705,000 after acquiring an additional 4,035,629 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at about $344,354,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its stake in Allstate by 64.1% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,316,516 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $832,181,000 after buying an additional 1,685,694 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Allstate by 25,026.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,273,895 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $263,785,000 after buying an additional 1,268,825 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Allstate by 15,062.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,119,129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $215,757,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111,748 shares during the last quarter. 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.