Swiss National Bank Lowers Holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 746,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 37,300 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Allstate were worth $143,821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Apella Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Allstate by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Allstate by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $697,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Allstate Trading Up 1.9 %

Allstate stock opened at $202.00 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $191.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $192.21. 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 52 week low of $156.66 and a 52 week high of $209.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase 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 1.98%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Argus raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Allstate from $209.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.94.

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.