Allstate (ALL) Announces 4th Quarter Dividend

The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) announced a quarterly dividend of 20 cents on each outstanding share of the Corporation's common stock, payable in cash on April 1, 2010 to stockholders of record at the close of business on March 12, 2010.

Recently Allstate announced their fourth quarter net income for 2009 at $518 million, or about 96 cents a share. That is a big improvement from the fourth quarter of 2008 where Allstate had a net loss of $1.13 billion, which equated to a loss of $2.10 a share.

Operating earnings were $592 million, or $1.09 a share. Operating earnings exclude net realized investment gains and losses and Allstate was expected to make $1.01 a share.

The combined ratio, which measures claims and expenses as a percentage of premiums, was 88.1 in the fourth quarter of 2009. This ratio is a closely watched measure of an insurer's underwriting performance. Allstate announced than in 2010 this ratio will likely be between 88 and 90.

Allstate-brand standard auto insurance premiums written climbed less than 1% in the fourth quarter or 2009. Average auto insurance premiums rose 2.6% while the number of policies declined 1%. Net investment income during Q4 2009 was $1.1 billion, $253 millions less than in the fourth quarter of 2008.

The strong rebound in equities and corporate bonds relieved a lot of the pressure on Allstate that existed as a result of investment losses during the 2008 financial crisis. There will still be challenges for Allstate in 2010, including a still sluggish economy and lower investment income. Ultimately shares of Allstate climbed 0.7% in after hours trading following this announcement, rising to $28.80.

For more investor relations information from Allstate go to Allstate Insurance Company Shareholder Resources. For more press releases from Allstate go to Allstate Insurance Company Newsroom.