Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV Grows Stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 52.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 373 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV’s holdings in Allstate were worth $72,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Allstate by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,496,306 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,190,758,000 after purchasing an additional 126,922 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Allstate by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,228,581 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,178,164,000 after purchasing an additional 74,537 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Allstate by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,834,172 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $353,610,000 after purchasing an additional 19,463 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Allstate by 15,062.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,119,129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $215,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 933,352 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $177,010,000 after acquiring an additional 98,179 shares during the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ALL. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of 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 lifted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.94.

Allstate Price Performance

ALL stock opened at $210.20 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $193.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.94. The Allstate Co. has a 12-month low of $156.66 and a 12-month high of $212.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to reacquire up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total transaction of $7,480,226.06. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Allstate 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.