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

The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) was the target of a large increase in short interest during 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. Based on an average trading volume of 1,840,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ALL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. 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 given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total transaction of $7,480,226.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Allstate

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ALL. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Allstate in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Allstate during the third quarter worth $26,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Allstate in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. 76.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Allstate Stock Performance

NYSE ALL traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $206.41. 636,144 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,569,006. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Allstate has a 52 week low of $156.66 and a 52 week high of $212.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $195.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $193.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. Equities research analysts predict that Allstate will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Allstate declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.