First National Trust Co Decreases Holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

First National Trust Co decreased its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 70 shares during the quarter. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Allstate were worth $289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE ALL opened at $207.68 on Friday. The Allstate Co. has a 52-week low of $156.66 and a 52-week high of $209.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $191.72 and a 200-day moving average of $192.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.04 billion, a PE ratio of 12.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share (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%. On average, analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Allstate’s payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ALL. Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned 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.

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.