Argus Upgrades Allstate (NYSE:ALL) to “Buy”

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

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Allstate from $231.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Allstate from $220.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays cut their target price on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Allstate from $216.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One investment 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.94.

Allstate Price Performance

ALL opened at $199.65 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $52.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.75, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.52. Allstate has a 1 year low of $154.76 and a 1 year 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $190.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $191.47.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Allstate’s payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

Allstate declared that its board has approved a share repurchase 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 board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Allstate

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Allstate by 5.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 577,934 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $109,605,000 after acquiring an additional 28,584 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Allstate by 117.3% during the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $944,000 after acquiring an additional 2,643 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Allstate by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 58,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $11,297,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Allstate by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 508,664 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $98,065,000 after purchasing an additional 48,382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in Allstate by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 401,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,413,000 after purchasing an additional 100,311 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by 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.