Homestead Advisers Corp Boosts Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Homestead Advisers Corp grew its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 350,598 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,500 shares during the quarter. Homestead Advisers Corp’s holdings in Allstate were worth $67,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. United Bank purchased a new stake in Allstate during the 3rd quarter worth $209,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 29.9% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 40,549 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,694,000 after buying an additional 9,336 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Allstate by 49.2% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,247 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in Allstate by 250.4% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 4,121 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $782,000 after acquiring an additional 2,945 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Allstate by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 269,708 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $51,150,000 after acquiring an additional 66,483 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.94.

Allstate Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:ALL opened at $209.16 on Thursday. The Allstate Co. has a 52 week low of $156.66 and a 52 week high of $212.91. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $195.10 and a 200-day moving average of $193.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.43 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31, 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. Analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

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

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 reacquire up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.