The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Short Interest Up 17.3% in November

The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) was the target of a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,370,000 shares, a growth of 17.3% from the November 15th total of 2,020,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,490,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Allstate news, insider John E. Dugenske sold 36,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.38, for a total value of $6,959,916.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,364 shares in the company, valued at $5,236,922.32. This trade represents a 57.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Allstate during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allstate in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Allstate in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Allstate in the 3rd quarter valued at about $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Price Performance

ALL traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $195.86. 617,983 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,546,356. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $194.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.50. Allstate has a one year low of $134.17 and a one year high of $209.88.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $1.71. The firm had revenue of $16.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.57 billion. Allstate had a return on equity of 26.67% and a net margin of 6.77%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Allstate will post 16.26 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. Allstate’s payout ratio is 23.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on ALL. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Allstate from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Allstate from $220.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Allstate from $193.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Allstate from $209.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Allstate from $205.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Allstate presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.19.

Allstate Company Profile

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.