Simmons Bank Sells 640 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Simmons Bank lessened its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,021 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 640 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Allstate were worth $1,546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 69.7% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 708,098 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $136,514,000 after purchasing an additional 290,858 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 161,809 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,195,000 after purchasing an additional 12,661 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 508,664 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $98,065,000 after purchasing an additional 48,382 shares in the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth about $2,485,000. Finally, Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Allstate by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 6,099 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,176,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Allstate from $209.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Allstate from $220.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Allstate from $231.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.94.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $7,480,226.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Allstate Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of ALL stock opened at $188.35 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $190.05 and a 200-day moving average of $190.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The Allstate Co. has a 12-month low of $153.87 and a 12-month high of $209.88. The firm has a market cap of $49.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.09, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.52.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.66%.

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

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.