Allstate (NYSE:ALL) Lowered to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Allstate (NYSE:ALL) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on ALL. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Allstate from $166.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $194.00 price target on shares of Allstate in a report on Friday, July 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Allstate from $191.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Allstate from $146.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Allstate from $193.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $184.06.

Allstate Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:ALL traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $171.03. The company had a trading volume of 1,000,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,569,766. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.75, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $165.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.82. Allstate has a 12-month low of $104.29 and a 12-month high of $180.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The insurance provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $1.28. The company had revenue of $15.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.04 billion. Allstate had a return on equity of 24.05% and a net margin of 5.03%. Allstate’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($4.42) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Allstate will post 13.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Allstate news, insider Suren Gupta sold 45,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.28, for a total transaction of $8,114,992.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 89,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,942,790.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Allstate

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SageView Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Allstate during the 4th quarter worth approximately $456,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Allstate by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 92,753 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $12,984,000 after acquiring an additional 4,987 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,927,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,042,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Allstate by 55.8% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 218,629 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,825,000 after acquiring an additional 78,316 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.