Forum Financial Management LP Buys 523 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Forum Financial Management LP lifted its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,202 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 523 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Allstate were worth $1,967,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ALL. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased 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

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ALL shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Allstate from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Argus raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.20.

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALL opened at $203.39 on Friday. The Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $156.66 and a twelve month high of $212.91. The firm has a market cap of $53.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.97, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a 50 day moving average of $199.58 and a 200 day moving average of $196.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by ($0.45). The company had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.41 billion. Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. Allstate’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.13 earnings per share. As a group, research 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 was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid 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 yield of 1.97%. Allstate’s payout ratio is currently 27.32%.

Allstate announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.