The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Sold by Bank of Hawaii

Bank of Hawaii cut its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 20.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,016 shares during the quarter. Bank of Hawaii’s holdings in Allstate were worth $769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at about $344,354,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Allstate by 64.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,316,516 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $832,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685,694 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Allstate by 15,062.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,119,129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $215,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,748 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Allstate by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,635,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,291,783,000 after purchasing an additional 389,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 69.7% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 708,098 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $136,514,000 after acquiring an additional 290,858 shares during the period. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of ALL opened at $193.49 on Thursday. The Allstate Co. has a 1 year low of $156.66 and a 1 year high of $212.91. The company has a market cap of $51.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $196.81 and a 200-day moving average of $194.17.

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, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on ALL. Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.00.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.