Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. Buys Shares of 945 The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 945 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $182,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new position in Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Allstate in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Stock Down 0.1%

Allstate stock opened at $202.38 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $199.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $195.29. The Allstate Co. has a 1-year low of $156.66 and a 1-year high of $212.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

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

Allstate announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to reacquire up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Allstate from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price (up previously from $240.00) on shares of Allstate in a research note on Monday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.