Pullen Investment Management LLC Sells 629 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Pullen Investment Management LLC lowered its position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,849 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 629 shares during the quarter. Allstate accounts for approximately 1.4% of Pullen Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Pullen Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $2,247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Price Performance

NYSE ALL opened at $198.61 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $200.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $197.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The Allstate Co. has a 12-month low of $156.66 and a 12-month high of $213.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.35.

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

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

Allstate Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ALL. William Blair began coverage on shares of Allstate in a research note on Friday, June 6th. They set a “sector outperform” rating for the company. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target (up previously from $240.00) on shares of Allstate in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Allstate in a report on Friday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Allstate has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.20.

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.