Cibc World Markets Corp Boosts Holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Cibc World Markets Corp grew its position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 377.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 244,567 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 193,385 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Allstate were worth $47,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ALL. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in Allstate in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in shares of Allstate by 52.2% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 373 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Yardley Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Allstate by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Yardley Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,824 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $731,000 after buying an additional 1,912 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN purchased a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth about $231,000. Finally, Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth about $388,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.94.

Allstate Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ALL opened at $207.68 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $55.04 billion, a PE ratio of 12.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. 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 Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $156.66 and a twelve month high of $209.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $192.47.

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

Allstate announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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 paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

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.