Ariel Investments LLC Buys New Stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Ariel Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 240,042 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $38,325,000. Ariel Investments LLC owned about 0.09% of Allstate at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ALL. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Allstate by 70.9% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 188 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in Allstate in the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC boosted its position in Allstate by 33.9% in the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In other news, CEO Thomas J. Wilson sold 90,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.34, for a total transaction of $16,140,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,880,915.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Allstate news, EVP Elizabeth Brady sold 49,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.09, for a total transaction of $8,861,552.29. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,431,901.67. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Thomas J. Wilson sold 90,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.34, for a total value of $16,140,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 88,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,880,915.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 238,305 shares of company stock valued at $43,082,657 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Allstate stock opened at $190.00 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.94, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The Allstate Co. has a 1-year low of $109.01 and a 1-year high of $193.97. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $180.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.86.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The insurance provider reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $1.28. The firm had revenue of $15.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.04 billion. Allstate had a net margin of 5.03% and a return on equity of 24.05%. Allstate’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($4.42) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 15.2 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Allstate from $191.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Allstate from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Allstate from $193.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on Allstate from $213.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Allstate from $199.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Allstate presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.76.

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.