AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Invests $411,000 in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,131 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $411,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Allstate in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Stock Up 0.0 %

ALL opened at $209.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The Allstate Co. has a 12 month low of $156.66 and a 12 month high of $212.91. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $195.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $193.65.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.54%.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to reacquire up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ALL shares. Argus raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is 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.