The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Stake Lessened by Quarry LP

Quarry LP lowered its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,612 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 148 shares during the period. Quarry LP’s holdings in Allstate were worth $504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ALL. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALL opened at $193.02 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $197.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $194.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The Allstate Co. has a one year low of $156.66 and a one year high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays reduced their target price on Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Allstate from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Allstate has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $7,480,226.06. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

About Allstate

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.