Allstate (NYSE:ALL) Declares Share Buyback Plan

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALL opened at $195.01 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $51.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.52. Allstate has a 12 month low of $153.87 and a 12 month high of $209.88. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $190.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $190.71.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Allstate will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is 21.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ALL. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Allstate from $220.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays cut their price objective on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Allstate from $216.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Allstate currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $7,480,226.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.