Insight 2811 Inc. Reduces Stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Insight 2811 Inc. cut its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,040 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 109 shares during the quarter. Insight 2811 Inc.’s holdings in Allstate were worth $393,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. GQG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 64.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,316,516 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $832,181,000 after buying an additional 1,685,694 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in Allstate by 15,062.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,119,129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $215,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,748 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Allstate by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,635,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,291,783,000 after purchasing an additional 389,426 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 69.7% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 708,098 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $136,514,000 after purchasing an additional 290,858 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Allstate by 22,981.9% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 269,135 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $51,887,000 after buying an additional 267,969 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALL opened at $207.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $194.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $193.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The Allstate Co. has a 52 week low of $156.66 and a 52 week high of $212.91.

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

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the firm’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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ALL. Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays lowered their price target on 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 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 upgraded Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Allstate currently has a consensus 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.