The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Sold by Poplar Forest Capital LLC

Poplar Forest Capital LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 25.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 149,389 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 51,559 shares during the period. Allstate makes up about 5.3% of Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $28,801,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Allstate by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 577,934 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $109,605,000 after acquiring an additional 28,584 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Allstate by 117.3% during the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $944,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Allstate by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 58,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $11,297,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its stake in shares of Allstate by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 401,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,413,000 after purchasing an additional 100,311 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Allstate by 38.0% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,497 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,067,000 after purchasing an additional 2,888 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total transaction of $7,480,226.06. Following the completion of 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Allstate from $231.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Allstate from $209.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Allstate has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.94.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of ALL opened at $199.20 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $190.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.90. The Allstate Co. has a 12-month low of $153.87 and a 12-month high of $209.88. The firm has a market cap of $52.79 billion, a PE ratio of 11.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.66%.

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.