Bellwether Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 326 The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 326 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $63,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ALL. Apella Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $623,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 12,135 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,340,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $571,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Allstate from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 18th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.27.

Allstate Stock Up 1.4 %

ALL stock opened at $195.56 on Tuesday. The Allstate Co. has a 12-month low of $156.66 and a 12-month high of $212.91. 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 $51.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.51, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a 50 day moving average of $197.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $194.74.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

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.