Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Sells 8,987 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 16.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 47,077 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 8,987 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $9,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Allstate by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 577,934 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $109,605,000 after purchasing an additional 28,584 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Allstate by 117.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $944,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Allstate by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 58,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $11,297,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Allstate by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 508,664 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $98,065,000 after purchasing an additional 48,382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its position in shares of Allstate by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 401,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $77,413,000 after purchasing an additional 100,311 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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 stock was sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total transaction of $7,480,226.06. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Stock Performance

NYSE:ALL opened at $206.60 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $156.66 and a 1 year high of $212.91. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $193.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $193.07. The company has a market cap of $54.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Allstate declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Argus raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Allstate currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.94.

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.