Allstate (NYSE:ALL) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Allstate (NYSE:ALL) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on ALL. Barclays decreased their target price on Allstate from $226.00 to $221.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. HSBC upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $266.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Allstate from $250.00 to $232.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 12th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Allstate from $240.00 to $215.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Allstate from $282.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $270.19.

Allstate Stock Performance

Allstate stock opened at $251.92 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $245.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $227.45. Allstate has a 1-year low of $188.08 and a 1-year high of $277.22.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $8.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.06 by $2.93. The business had revenue of $18.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Allstate will post 36.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Mario Rizzo sold 56,225 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.48, for a total value of $14,870,388.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 82,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,747,396.96. This represents a 40.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John Dugenske sold 32,996 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.33, for a total value of $8,886,812.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 13,054 shares in the company, valued at $3,515,833.82. This represents a 71.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Allstate

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Allstate during the 2nd quarter worth $5,439,448,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Allstate by 8.1% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,913,320 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,640,748,000 after buying an additional 596,321 shares during the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Allstate during the second quarter worth about $1,245,710,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Allstate in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,008,648,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Allstate by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,804,615 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $581,515,000 after acquiring an additional 154,259 shares during the period. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Allstate Company Profile

Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL) is an insurance company that provides protection products and related services primarily in the United States. Its offerings include automobile, homeowners, renters, condominium, motorcycle and other personal property and casualty insurance, distributed through agents, brokers, direct channels and digital platforms.

The company also provides roadside assistance, identity-protection services and protection plans for consumer products. Through its acquisition of National General, Allstate expanded its presence in independent-agent distribution and specialty personal insurance.