Cullen Capital Management LLC Has $3.58 Million Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Cullen Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,583 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 321 shares during the quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $3,583,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ALL. KCM Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Allstate by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,378 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,386,000 after buying an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,996,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Allstate by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 7,390 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,181 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of Allstate by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 37,540 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,237,000 after purchasing an additional 4,010 shares during the period. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,808 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $689,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $7,480,226.06. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target 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 increased their price target on shares of 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 raised their price target on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com cut Allstate from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Argus raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.80.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALL opened at $186.74 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The Allstate Co. has a 1-year low of $156.66 and a 1-year high of $212.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $197.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.33.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is 23.54%.

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.