Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Grows Stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,620 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 216 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $312,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,972 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Allstate by 18.4% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 51,032 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,678,000 after acquiring an additional 7,940 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 28.8% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 417,240 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $79,130,000 after purchasing an additional 93,357 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Allstate by 2.4% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 105,343 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,978,000 after purchasing an additional 2,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Allstate by 133.4% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 48,716 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,239,000 after purchasing an additional 27,842 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Allstate Trading Down 1.4 %

ALL stock opened at $199.14 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $52.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.72, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $190.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $191.41. The Allstate Co. has a 52 week low of $154.76 and a 52 week high of $209.88.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ALL shares. Barclays reduced their target price on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Allstate from $231.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Allstate from $209.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Allstate has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.94.

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.