Brokerages Set The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL) Target Price at $236.93

Shares of The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $236.9286.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Roth Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Allstate from $202.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. William Blair lowered Allstate from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Zacks Research lowered Allstate from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective (down from $245.00) on shares of Allstate in a report on Tuesday, December 16th.

Allstate Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:ALL opened at $207.82 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $54.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.25. Allstate has a 12 month low of $176.00 and a 12 month high of $215.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $204.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $202.57.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The insurance provider reported $11.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.48 by $5.69. Allstate had a net margin of 12.53% and a return on equity of 35.42%. The company had revenue of $17.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Allstate will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. Allstate’s payout ratio is presently 12.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Allstate news, insider Suren Gupta sold 3,786 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.13, for a total transaction of $814,482.18. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 100,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,651,973.98. The trade was a 3.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,807 shares of company stock worth $6,198,726. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Allstate

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Allstate during the second quarter worth $482,870,000. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 2,157.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 861,725 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $184,969,000 after purchasing an additional 823,559 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Allstate in the third quarter valued at about $148,641,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 27.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,328,070 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $482,073,000 after buying an additional 497,982 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 52.7% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,385,901 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $279,062,000 after buying an additional 478,598 shares during the period. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Allstate Company Profile

Allstate Corporation is a publicly traded insurance company headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, and is one of the largest personal lines property and casualty insurers in the United States. Founded in 1931 as a subsidiary of Sears, Roebuck and Co, Allstate has grown into a diversified insurer that serves millions of consumers and businesses through a mix of distribution channels and product offerings.

The company underwrites a broad range of insurance products, with primary emphasis on auto and homeowners coverage.