Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Has $74.70 Million Stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lessened its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 32.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 387,491 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 189,501 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Allstate were worth $74,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new position in Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price target on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Allstate currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.80.

Allstate Stock Performance

NYSE:ALL opened at $207.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36. The Allstate Co. has a fifty-two week low of $156.66 and a fifty-two week high of $212.91. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.06. The company has a market capitalization of $54.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.