The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL) experienced a 28.1% increase in short interest in August, reaching a total of 4,060,000 shares as of August 31st.
• Analyst ratings for Allstate vary, with the consensus being a Moderate Buy and a target price of $231.47, while several firms, including Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, and UBS Group, have recently raised their price targets on the stock.
• Allstate announced a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, representing a 2.0% yield, which will be paid on October 1st to stockholders of record as of August 29th.

The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 4,060,000 shares, a growth of 28.1% from the August 15th total of 3,170,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,560,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,560,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Allstate Price Performance

Allstate stock traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $205.99. The company had a trading volume of 3,162,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,252,542. Allstate has a 1 year low of $176.00 and a 1 year high of $214.76. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $201.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $200.45. The company has a market capitalization of $54.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $5.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.20 by $2.74. Allstate had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 28.74%. The company had revenue of $15.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.61 earnings per share. Allstate's revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Allstate will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Allstate's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.81%.

Institutional Trading of Allstate

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Allstate by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,235,231 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $6,690,584,000 after purchasing an additional 435,145 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Allstate by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,709,610 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,424,710,000 after purchasing an additional 2,374,684 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Allstate by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,714,629 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,345,961,000 after acquiring an additional 79,366 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Allstate by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,670,113 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $940,140,000 after acquiring an additional 112,858 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Allstate by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,405,701 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $912,288,000 after buying an additional 89,185 shares during the period. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on ALL. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Allstate from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Allstate to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $260.00 target price (up from $250.00) on shares of Allstate in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $198.00 target price (up from $188.00) on shares of Allstate in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Allstate from $237.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $231.47.

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.