Vestcor Inc Purchases 29,747 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Vestcor Inc grew its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 625.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,747 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Allstate were worth $6,651,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Allstate during the third quarter worth $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Peoples Bank KS bought a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ALL shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays decreased their price target on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Argus raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.94.

Allstate Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE ALL opened at $198.45 on Thursday. The Allstate Co. has a one year low of $156.66 and a one year high of $209.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $191.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $192.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.60 billion, a PE ratio of 11.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is 23.54%.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total transaction of $7,480,226.06. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by 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.