The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Bought by Intrust Bank NA

Intrust Bank NA increased its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,135 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Intrust Bank NA’s holdings in Allstate were worth $2,340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. United Bank purchased a new position in shares of Allstate in the 3rd quarter worth $209,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Allstate by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 269,708 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $51,150,000 after purchasing an additional 66,483 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,584 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,473,000 after purchasing an additional 8,983 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Allstate by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 933,352 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $177,010,000 after purchasing an additional 98,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC purchased a new position in Allstate in the third quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays decreased their target price on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of Allstate stock opened at $206.46 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $156.66 and a 1 year high of $212.91. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $195.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $193.78. The firm has a market cap of $54.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 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%. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Allstate declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.