Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Has $640,000 Holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC cut its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,322 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 94 shares during the period. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ALL. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Allstate by 15,062.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,119,129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $215,757,000 after buying an additional 1,111,748 shares in the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Allstate during the 3rd quarter valued at $77,819,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Allstate by 688.4% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 460,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $87,292,000 after purchasing an additional 401,901 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its holdings in Allstate by 69.7% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 708,098 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $136,514,000 after purchasing an additional 290,858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Allstate by 22,981.9% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 269,135 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $51,887,000 after purchasing an additional 267,969 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ALL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Allstate from $220.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.94.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of Allstate stock opened at $199.20 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.79 billion, a PE ratio of 11.72, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.52. The Allstate Co. has a 12 month low of $153.87 and a 12 month high of $209.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $191.11.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. On average, research analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to reacquire up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.