William Blair Begins Coverage on Allstate (NYSE:ALL)

William Blair began coverage on shares of Allstate (NYSE:ALL) in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage issued a sector outperform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays lowered their price target on Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Allstate in a report on Friday, May 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Allstate from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Allstate from $200.00 to $197.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.20.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of ALL opened at $208.10 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $199.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $197.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $55.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.35. Allstate has a 52-week low of $156.66 and a 52-week high of $213.18.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by ($0.45). The business had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.41 billion. Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.13 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Allstate will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to reacquire up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Allstate

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 508,664 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $98,065,000 after purchasing an additional 48,382 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 56.0% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 186,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $36,012,000 after purchasing an additional 67,032 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 40,579 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,828 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH grew its holdings in Allstate by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 344,875 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $66,489,000 after acquiring an additional 5,786 shares during the period. Finally, Blackstone Inc. acquired a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth $52,053,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% 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.