Shares of Allstate Corp. ALL, +1.09% rose 0.2% in morning trading Monday, after the property and casualty insurer said it was raising its dividend by 50%, to 81 cents a share from 54 cents. The new dividend will be payable April 1 to shareholders of record on March 4. Based on current stock prices, the new annual dividend rate implies a dividend yield of 3.13%, compared with the yield on the SPDR S&P Insurance ETF KIE, +0.95% of 1.77% and the implied yield for the S&P 500 SPX, -0.63% of 1.48%, according to FactSet. “Allstate’s return on equity is among the highest in the insurance industry and this materially increases our payout ratio and current dividend yield,” said Chief Financial Officer Mario Rizzo. “It also demonstrates our commitment to a capital deployment strategy that creates shareholder value.” The stock has edged up 3.5% over the past three months, while the insurance ETF has gained 7.2% and the S&P 500 has advanced 9.3%.
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