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

Pitcairn Co. cut its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,435 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 186 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Allstate were worth $1,819,000 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 company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Allstate during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of Allstate stock opened at $205.37 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $54.43 billion, a PE ratio of 12.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The Allstate Co. has a 1 year low of $156.66 and a 1 year high of $212.91. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $197.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last issued its 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 return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. Equities analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase 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 purchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ALL shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com cut Allstate from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.80.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total transaction of $7,480,226.06. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.