Yahoo Finance Allstate (ALL) Could Be a Great Choice
Whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities, all investors love seeing their portfolios score big returns. But for income investors, generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments is your primary focus.
Cash flow can come from bond interest, interest from other types of investments, and of course, dividends. A dividend is that coveted distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders, and investors often view it by its dividend yield, a metric that measures the dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.
Allstate in Focus
Allstate (ALL) is headquartered in Northbrook, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of 14.67% since the start of the year. The insurer is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.92 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.29%. This compares to the Insurance - Property and Casualty industry's yield of 0.2% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.59%.
In terms of dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $3.68 is up 3.4% from last year. In the past five-year period, Allstate has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 16.11%. Future dividend growth will depend on earnings growth as well as payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Allstate's current payout ratio is 50%. This means it paid out 50% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
Looking at this fiscal year, ALL expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 is $13.91 per share, with earnings expected to increase 1,364.21% from the year ago period.
Bottom Line
From greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. However, not all companies offer a quarterly payout.
High-growth firms or tech start-ups, for example, rarely provide their shareholders a dividend, while larger, more established companies that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options. Income investors must be conscious of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, ALL is a compelling investment opportunity. Not only is it a strong dividend play, but the stock currently sits at a Zacks Rank of 3 (Hold).
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The Allstate Corporation (ALL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
