Evercore ISI Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Allstate (NYSE:ALL) Stock

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at Evercore ISI from $227.00 to $230.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 15.49% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on ALL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Argus raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Allstate from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 18th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Allstate presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.60.

Allstate Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of ALL opened at $199.15 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40. Allstate has a 12 month low of $156.66 and a 12 month high of $212.91. The stock has a market cap of $52.80 billion, a PE ratio of 11.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $198.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.88.

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

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

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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Allstate by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 577,934 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $109,605,000 after acquiring an additional 28,584 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Allstate by 117.3% during the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $944,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 58,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $11,297,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Allstate by 10.5% in 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 period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its holdings in Allstate by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 401,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $77,413,000 after purchasing an additional 100,311 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.47% 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.