Lafayette Investments Inc. Invests $236,000 in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Lafayette Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,685 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Allstate during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Allstate during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Cowa LLC purchased a new position in shares of Allstate during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. RVW Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Allstate during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Allstate during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. 76.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALL traded up $3.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $172.25. 573,085 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,670,340. The Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $100.57 and a twelve month high of $174.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $163.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.60.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $5.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $1.95. Allstate had a negative net margin of 0.33% and a positive return on equity of 2.67%. The firm had revenue of $14.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.36) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 13.5 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Allstate’s payout ratio is currently -296.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Allstate news, CAO John C. Pintozzi sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total value of $637,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 10,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,712,069.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CAO John C. Pintozzi sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total value of $637,880.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 10,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,712,069.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John E. Dugenske sold 31,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.20, for a total transaction of $5,276,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 63,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,847,016.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on ALL. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. TheStreet raised shares of Allstate from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $164.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.71.

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.