Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Buys 1,697 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 48.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,697 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $1,004,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ALL. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Allstate in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on ALL shares. Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective (up previously from $240.00) on shares of Allstate in a report on Monday. Barclays reduced their target price on Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Allstate from $200.00 to $197.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Allstate has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $224.73.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $7,480,226.06. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of ALL opened at $202.42 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $198.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $194.95. 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 Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $156.66 and a twelve month high of $212.91. The company has a market cap of $53.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.98 by ($0.45). The business had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.41 billion. Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Allstate’s payout ratio is 27.32%.

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

Allstate Company 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.