Barden Capital Management Inc. Takes Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Barden Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 7,718 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,488,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ALL. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,972 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 51,032 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $9,678,000 after buying an additional 7,940 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Allstate during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its stake in shares of Allstate by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 5,473 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate in the 3rd quarter worth $253,000. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Allstate Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Allstate stock opened at $197.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $52.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.62, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $190.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $191.51. 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 Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $155.40 and a twelve month high of $209.88.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 research analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.54%.

Insider Activity

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 value of $7,480,226.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on ALL. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Allstate from $231.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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 reduced their price objective on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.94.

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.