Securian Asset Management Inc. Has $2.73 Million Stock Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Securian Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,160 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 411 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Allstate were worth $2,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Allstate by 5.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 577,934 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $109,605,000 after purchasing an additional 28,584 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Allstate by 117.3% during the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $944,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Allstate by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 58,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $11,297,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Allstate by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 508,664 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $98,065,000 after purchasing an additional 48,382 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its stake in Allstate by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 401,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,413,000 after acquiring an additional 100,311 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Allstate from $209.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Argus raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Allstate currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.94.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of Allstate stock opened at $198.45 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $191.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $192.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The Allstate Co. has a 12 month low of $156.66 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.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its Board of Directors 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 purchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.