Allstate (NYSE:ALL) to Buyback $1.50 billion in Stock

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on ALL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Allstate from $231.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $220.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Allstate currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.94.

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of ALL opened at $199.20 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.52. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $190.26 and a 200 day moving average of $190.90. Allstate has a twelve month low of $153.87 and a twelve month high of $209.88.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s payout ratio is 21.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.