Allstate upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital

BMO Capital upgraded Allstate to Outperform from Market Perform with a price target of $191, up from $190. The analyst believes Allstate’s past five year transformation means it can now start playing “customer acquisition offense” by spending its expense ratio improvement budget. The company’s “growth risk/reward stars are better aligning today because the coast is much clearer” as auto inflation data points have run at more moderate single-digit levels for seven months now versus last year’s double-digit inflation spike, the analyst tells investors in a research note. BMO views Allstate’s valuation as “reasonably inexpensive.”