Hopwood Financial Services Inc. Makes New $29,000 Investment in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 150 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $29,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Allstate in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter worth $49,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Allstate during the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on ALL shares. Evercore ISI raised shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.94.

Allstate Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE ALL opened at $198.45 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $191.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $192.14. The Allstate Co. has a 1 year low of $156.66 and a 1 year high of $209.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s payout ratio is 23.54%.

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.