Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 339.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,609 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,878 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Allstate were worth $1,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ALL. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Allstate by 157.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,591,138 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,270,705,000 after buying an additional 4,035,629 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth about $344,354,000. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Allstate by 64.1% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,316,516 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $832,181,000 after buying an additional 1,685,694 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Allstate by 15,062.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,119,129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $215,757,000 after buying an additional 1,111,748 shares during the period. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP boosted its stake in Allstate by 1,303.3% during the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 824,838 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $159,021,000 after buying an additional 766,058 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of ALL stock opened at $200.70 on Thursday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $199.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.38. The company has a market cap of $53.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32. The Allstate Co. has a 12 month low of $156.66 and a 12 month high of $212.91.

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

Allstate declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase 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 usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Allstate from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. StockNews.com raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Allstate from $200.00 to $197.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Allstate currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.