Short Interest in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Expands By 61.6%

The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,960,000 shares, an increase of 61.6% from the February 28th total of 2,450,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,840,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate 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. 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. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ALL. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Allstate by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 118,319 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $22,811,000 after purchasing an additional 21,149 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its position in shares of Allstate by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 11,121 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,144,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Allstate in the fourth quarter worth about $170,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,350,000. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.80.

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of Allstate stock traded down $2.83 on Friday, hitting $206.46. 2,113,268 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,572,643. Allstate has a 52 week low of $156.66 and a 52 week high of $212.91. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $195.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $193.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. Research analysts expect that Allstate will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 yield of 1.94%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.