Allstate (NYSE:ALL) Price Target Cut to $172.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) had its target price decreased by Barclays from $183.00 to $172.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on ALL. Evercore ISI raised shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.27.

Allstate Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of ALL opened at $192.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40. Allstate has a 1-year low of $156.66 and a 1-year high of $212.91. The stock has a market cap of $51.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.18.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities 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 was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to reacquire up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Allstate

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALL. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its position in shares of Allstate by 7.9% during the first quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 3,210 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $665,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Verum Partners LLC acquired a new position in Allstate in the 1st quarter worth $280,000. Sard Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Allstate in the 1st quarter worth $204,000. Davis Capital Management boosted its position in Allstate by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Davis Capital Management now owns 12,534 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,595,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curat Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate during the first quarter valued at about $315,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

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.