The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Stake Lessened by Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE cut its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 12.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,800 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 550 shares during the period. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings in Allstate were worth $532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Allstate by 11.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,270,589 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,595,266,000 after buying an additional 3,322,673 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Allstate by 123.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,540,295 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $751,264,000 after acquiring an additional 3,064,105 shares in the last quarter. Cowa LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $190,865,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Allstate by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,121,941 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $459,225,000 after acquiring an additional 1,311,095 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Allstate Price Performance

NYSE:ALL traded up $3.16 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $173.00. The stock had a trading volume of 778,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,756,259. The Allstate Co. has a 1-year low of $100.57 and a 1-year high of $173.47. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $5.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $1.95. Allstate had a negative net margin of 0.33% and a positive return on equity of 2.67%. The business had revenue of $14.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted ($1.36) EPS. Allstate’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 13.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th will be paid a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 1st. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -296.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on ALL. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Allstate from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $117.00 to $171.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Allstate from $164.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Allstate from $164.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. TheStreet upgraded shares of Allstate from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Allstate from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.56.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CAO John C. Pintozzi sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total value of $637,880.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,712,069.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Allstate Company Profile

The Allstate Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides property and casualty, and other insurance products in the United States and Canada. It operates in five segments: Allstate Protection; Protection Services; Allstate Health and Benefits; Run-off Property-Liability; and Corporate and Other segments.