The increase in short interest suggests that investors are becoming more bearish on Allstate, potentially leading to downward pressure on the stock price in the short term. However, the fact that Allstate's short interest is below its peer group average might mitigate some of the negative impact, as it indicates that Allstate is not as heavily shorted compared to its peers. The coverage time of 1.53 days suggests that any significant change in market sentiment could quickly result in covering, potentially leading to short squeezes.