Morton Community Bank Grows Stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Morton Community Bank lifted its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,435 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Allstate makes up 1.0% of Morton Community Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Morton Community Bank’s holdings in Allstate were worth $3,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Allstate by 5.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 577,934 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $109,605,000 after purchasing an additional 28,584 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Allstate by 117.3% during 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 period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Allstate by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 58,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $11,297,000 after buying an additional 3,800 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 508,664 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $98,065,000 after purchasing an additional 48,382 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 401,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $77,413,000 after purchasing an additional 100,311 shares during the period. 76.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on ALL shares. Argus raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction on 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 trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE:ALL opened at $200.87 on Monday. 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 50-day simple moving average of $190.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $191.82. The Allstate Co. has a one year low of $155.59 and a one year high of $209.88. The company has a market capitalization of $53.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. Sell-side analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given 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 1.99%. Allstate’s payout ratio is 23.54%.

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

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.