New York Life Investment Management LLC Raises Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 39,228 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $7,563,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ALL. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Allstate by 34.1% in the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 2,330 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $442,000 after buying an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc grew its stake in Allstate by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 107,681 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $20,355,000 after buying an additional 9,762 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in Allstate in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $244,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Allstate in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its stake in Allstate by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 1,992 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Allstate Stock Performance

NYSE ALL opened at $199.20 on Friday. The Allstate Co. has a 52-week low of $153.87 and a 52-week 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 company has a market capitalization of $52.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a fifty day moving average of $190.26 and a 200-day moving average of $190.90.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $231.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Allstate from $220.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.