The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Bought by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. grew its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 38.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,183 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,050 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Allstate were worth $6,976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in Allstate in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of ALL opened at $202.57 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $199.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $195.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The Allstate Co. has a 12-month low of $156.66 and a 12-month high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.98 by ($0.45). The business had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.41 billion. Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.32%.

Allstate announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to reacquire up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ALL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Allstate from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective (up from $240.00) on shares of Allstate in a report on Monday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.20.

Insider Activity at Allstate

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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.