ZEGA Investments LLC Makes New Investment in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

ZEGA Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Allstate in the third quarter worth $26,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 76.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on ALL shares. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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 reduced their price objective on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of 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 assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of ALL stock opened at $206.60 on Friday. The Allstate Co. has a one year low of $156.66 and a one year high of $212.91. The company’s 50-day moving average is $193.75 and its 200 day moving average is $193.07. The company has a market capitalization of $54.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Allstate declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 reacquire up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically 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.