DRW Securities LLC Grows Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

DRW Securities LLC grew its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 79.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,022 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 898 shares during the quarter. DRW Securities LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $390,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in shares of Allstate by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 7,039 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,335,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Allstate by 138.0% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,180 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,555,000 after purchasing an additional 4,743 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of Allstate by 1.4% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 130,898 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $24,825,000 after buying an additional 1,787 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,582 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its position in shares of Allstate by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 742 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Allstate Price Performance

Allstate stock opened at $190.86 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $196.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.17. The Allstate Co. has a 12-month low of $156.66 and a 12-month high of $212.91. The stock has a market cap of $50.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.23, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is 23.54%.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ALL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.00.

About Allstate

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.