Great Lakes Advisors LLC Acquires 129 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,774 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $920,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of Allstate stock opened at $207.68 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $191.72 and a 200-day moving average of $192.43. The Allstate Co. has a 52-week low of $156.66 and a 52-week high of $209.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47.

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

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 issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is 23.54%.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 repurchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.