The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Acquired by HighPoint Advisor Group LLC

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,437 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,323 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $6,334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALL. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Allstate in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in Allstate during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of Allstate stock opened at $206.46 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $54.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $156.66 and a twelve month 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. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $195.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $193.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $7,480,226.06. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.