Summit Global Investments Sells 3,290 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Summit Global Investments reduced its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,965 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,290 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Allstate were worth $11,368,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ALL. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Allstate in the third quarter worth $26,000. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on ALL shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price 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 decreased their price objective on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Allstate has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Stock Performance

Allstate stock opened at $206.60 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $193.75 and a 200-day moving average of $193.07. The company has a market capitalization of $54.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The Allstate Co. has a 1 year low of $156.66 and a 1 year high of $212.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 research analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.54%.

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

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.