Insider Selling: The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Insider Sells 31,000 Shares of Stock

The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) insider John E. Dugenske sold 31,000 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.20, for a total transaction of $5,276,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 63,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,847,016.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Allstate Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE ALL opened at $173.02 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $45.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -139.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $159.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The Allstate Co. has a 12-month low of $100.57 and a 12-month high of $173.47.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $5.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $1.95. Allstate had a negative net margin of 0.33% and a positive return on equity of 2.67%. The company had revenue of $14.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($1.36) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 13.11 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 1st. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Allstate’s payout ratio is -296.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ALL. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $130.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Allstate from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Allstate from $171.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. HSBC raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $158.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Allstate in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $193.00 price target on the stock. One 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.56.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Allstate

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,544,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter worth $99,000. Walden Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at $260,000. Red Mountain Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at about $295,000. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Allstate in the fourth quarter worth about $152,000. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.