The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,960,000 shares, a drop of 11.3% from the October 15th total of 2,210,000 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,500,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ALL shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Allstate from $220.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Allstate from $193.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Allstate from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $205.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Allstate from $231.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $214.19.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Robert Toohey sold 16,682 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.17, for a total value of $3,005,595.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,873 shares in the company, valued at $877,968.41. This trade represents a 77.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas J. Wilson sold 90,000 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.34, for a total value of $16,140,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,552 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,880,915.68. This trade represents a 50.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 143,049 shares of company stock worth $26,106,112. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Allstate

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALL. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,228,581 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,178,164,000 after acquiring an additional 74,537 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Allstate by 334.8% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 17,388 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,298,000 after buying an additional 13,389 shares in the last quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Allstate by 3.5% during the third quarter. PYA Waltman Capital LLC now owns 15,238 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,890,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Allstate in the third quarter worth approximately $545,000. Finally, EWA LLC purchased a new stake in Allstate in the third quarter valued at approximately $242,000. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Allstate Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ALL traded up $1.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $196.88. 1,397,470 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,464,175. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.75, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.48. Allstate has a twelve month low of $131.65 and a twelve month high of $201.00. The business's fifty day moving average price is $190.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $1.71. The company had revenue of $16.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.57 billion. Allstate had a return on equity of 26.67% and a net margin of 6.77%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Allstate will post 16.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.83%.

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.