AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Buys New Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 2,131 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $411,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ALL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Allstate by 5.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 577,934 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $109,605,000 after purchasing an additional 28,584 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Allstate by 117.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $944,000 after buying an additional 2,643 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Allstate by 6.9% in 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 during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Allstate by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 508,664 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $98,065,000 after acquiring an additional 48,382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its position in shares of Allstate by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 401,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $77,413,000 after acquiring an additional 100,311 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALL opened at $209.38 on Friday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $195.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $193.65. The Allstate Co. has a 52-week low of $156.66 and a 52-week high of $212.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47.

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 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Allstate’s payout ratio is 23.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on ALL shares. Barclays reduced their price target on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.94.

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.