Allstate (NYSE:ALL) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $210.35 and last traded at $209.38, with a volume of 311856 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $207.49.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ALL shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.94.

Allstate Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $54.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $192.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $192.74.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last issued 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 net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 1.95%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.54%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was 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 $3,378,990.95. This 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 is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Allstate

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 valued at $6,291,783,000 after buying an additional 389,426 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Allstate by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,496,306 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,190,758,000 after acquiring an additional 126,922 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Allstate by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,334,926 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,799,681,000 after purchasing an additional 218,771 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 4,035,629 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.