Brokerages Set The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Target Price at $172.00

Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, twelve have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $172.59.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ALL. TheStreet upgraded Allstate from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Allstate from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Allstate from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Allstate from $166.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, HSBC raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $158.00 to $190.00 in a report on Thursday, March 28th.

Allstate Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ALL opened at $165.61 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $43.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -133.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $162.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.77. Allstate has a 52-week low of $100.57 and a 52-week high of $174.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $5.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $1.95. The firm had revenue of $14.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.69 billion. Allstate had a positive return on equity of 2.67% and a negative net margin of 0.33%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.36) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Allstate will post 13.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $0.92 dividend. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -296.77%.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In related news, insider John E. Dugenske sold 31,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.20, for a total value of $5,276,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 63,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,847,016.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO John C. Pintozzi sold 4,000 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total transaction of $637,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,712,069.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John E. Dugenske sold 31,000 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.20, for a total value of $5,276,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 63,731 shares in the company, valued at $10,847,016.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Allstate

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allstate during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allstate during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Allstate during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Cowa LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allstate during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.