Janus Henderson Group PLC Acquires 1,517 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 33,832 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,517 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $6,523,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Allstate by 339.6% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,609 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,467,000 after acquiring an additional 5,878 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 40.8% in the fourth quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC now owns 1,833 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 531 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at $6,052,000. Ellevest Inc. raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 1,589 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the period. Finally, Engle Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at $10,738,000. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALL opened at $209.13 on Friday. The Allstate Co. has a fifty-two week low of $156.66 and a fifty-two week high of $212.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $199.48 and a 200-day moving average of $195.69. 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 market cap of $55.38 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.98 by ($0.45). Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. The business had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.13 earnings per share. Allstate’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s payout ratio is presently 27.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on ALL shares. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price (up from $240.00) on shares of Allstate in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Allstate from $200.00 to $197.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued 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 target price of $225.20.

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.