Millstone Evans Group LLC Purchases Shares of 1,413 The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,413 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 577,934 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $109,605,000 after purchasing an additional 28,584 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 117.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $944,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 58,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $11,297,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $98,065,000 after acquiring an additional 48,382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 401,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,413,000 after acquiring an additional 100,311 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.94.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Price Performance

ALL opened at $206.60 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $193.75 and a 200-day moving average of $193.07. The company has a market capitalization of $54.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.16, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The Allstate Co. has a 1-year low of $156.66 and a 1-year high of $212.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate 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.