(Bloomberg) — Allstate Corp., the largest U.S. publicly traded seller of auto and home insurance, said it will repurchase as much as $3 billion of its stock as fourth-quarter profit exceeded analysts' estimates.
Operating income, which excludes some investment results, was $1.72 a share, beating the $1.69 average estimate of 22 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Net income declined to $795 million, or $1.86 a share, from $810 million, or $1.76, a year earlier when there were more shares outstanding, Northbrook, Illinois-based Allstate said Wednesday in a statement.
Chief Executive Officer Tom Wilson returned $2.8 billion to shareholders in 2014 with dividends and buybacks, Allstate said. Allstate said Wednesday that it raised the quarterly dividend 7% to 30 cents a share. The new $3 billion repurchase program is set to be completed by July 2016.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
