Toronto Dominion Bank Increases Stock Holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 141,580 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,682 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Allstate were worth $27,295,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Allstate during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on ALL. StockNews.com raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (up from $240.00) on shares of Allstate in a research note on Monday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.20.

Allstate Stock Up 1.9%

ALL stock opened at $209.13 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.38 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a fifty day moving average of $199.48 and a 200-day moving average of $195.75. 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 Allstate Co. has a one year low of $156.66 and a one year high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.13 EPS. Allstate’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.32%.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.