Level Four Advisory Services LLC Purchases 318 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,754 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 318 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $1,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Allstate during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Allstate during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new position in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in Allstate in the fourth quarter worth approximately $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 Trading Down 1.4 %

Allstate stock opened at $206.46 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $195.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $193.85. The company has a market capitalization of $54.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The Allstate Co. has a 52 week low of $156.66 and a 52 week high of $212.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.54%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays cut their target price on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Allstate currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.80.

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.