Jones Financial Companies Lllp Purchases 19,473 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 18.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 123,791 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,473 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Allstate were worth $23,866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Modera Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Allstate by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Allstate by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 302 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter worth about $203,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Allstate by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,620 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hickory Point Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter worth $329,000. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of ALL stock opened at $199.20 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.79 billion, a PE ratio of 11.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $190.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $191.11. The Allstate Co. has a 52 week low of $153.87 and a 52 week high of $209.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on ALL shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Allstate from $220.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.