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

Cadence Bank lessened its position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,725 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 239 shares during the quarter. Cadence Bank’s holdings in Allstate were worth $2,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in Allstate by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 7,039 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,335,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 742 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Allstate by 104.2% in the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 5,728 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 2,923 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,836,000. Finally, Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in Allstate by 5.3% during the third quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,776 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,095,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ALL shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $219.27.

Allstate Stock Performance

NYSE:ALL opened at $194.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $51.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $197.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.31. The Allstate Co. has a fifty-two week low of $156.66 and a fifty-two week 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.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last issued 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 return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. Analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. 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 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.54%.

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.