The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Stake Boosted by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 22,661 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Allstate were worth $4,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. National Pension Service increased its stake in Allstate by 69.7% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 708,098 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $136,514,000 after purchasing an additional 290,858 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in Allstate by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 161,809 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,195,000 after acquiring an additional 12,661 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Allstate by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 508,664 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $98,065,000 after acquiring an additional 48,382 shares in the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,485,000. Finally, Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC grew its stake in Allstate by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 6,099 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ALL. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their price target on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Allstate from $209.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Allstate from $220.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.94.

Allstate Stock Down 1.1 %

ALL opened at $188.35 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $190.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $190.68. The Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $153.87 and a twelve month high of $209.88. 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 firm has a market cap of $49.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.52.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last issued its quarterly 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%. Research analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Allstate’s payout ratio is 21.66%.

Allstate Company 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.