The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $1.00

The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 26th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of 1.00 per share by the insurance provider on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92.

Allstate has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Allstate has a payout ratio of 17.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Allstate to earn $21.55 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.1%.

Allstate Stock Performance

Allstate stock traded down $2.13 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $188.35. The company had a trading volume of 1,269,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,826,510. The company has a 50 day moving average of $190.06 and a 200-day moving average of $190.70. The firm has a market cap of $49.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.09, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Allstate has a 52 week low of $153.87 and a 52 week high of $209.88.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Allstate will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Allstate from $220.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Allstate from $231.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Allstate from $216.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Allstate currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.94.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% 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.