The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Holdings Trimmed by L & S Advisors Inc

L & S Advisors Inc reduced its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,437 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 308 shares during the period. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Allstate were worth $2,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ALL. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Allstate in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allstate in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on ALL. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.80.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Allstate Stock Performance

NYSE ALL opened at $206.46 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $195.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $193.85. The Allstate Co. has a 52-week low of $156.66 and a 52-week high of $212.91. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $54.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Allstate’s payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

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