Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 16,656 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 504 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Allstate were worth $3,211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ALL. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of ALL stock opened at $199.00 on Tuesday. The Allstate Co. has a 1 year low of $156.45 and a 1 year high of $209.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $190.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $191.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $52.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.71, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a boost 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 2.01%. Allstate’s payout ratio is 23.54%.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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. Barclays dropped their target price 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. 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, Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.