Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. Purchases 2,181 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. increased its position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 41.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,390 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,181 shares during the quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Allstate were worth $1,425,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Peoples Bank KS bought a new position in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays reduced their price target on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Allstate from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Allstate Trading Down 9.1 %

NYSE ALL opened at $186.74 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $197.37 and its 200 day moving average is $194.33. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $49.49 billion, a PE ratio of 10.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $156.66 and a twelve month high of $212.91.

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 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%. Research analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 given a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board 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.