The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Purchased by OV Management LLC

OV Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 10,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 774 shares during the period. Allstate comprises about 0.9% of OV Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. OV Management LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $2,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its stake in shares of Allstate by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 48,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,432,000 after acquiring an additional 2,581 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Allstate by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,419,728 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,236,060,000 after purchasing an additional 191,147 shares during the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its stake in Allstate by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 57,317 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $11,050,000 after purchasing an additional 4,155 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Allstate by 38.6% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 195,159 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,625,000 after buying an additional 54,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of Allstate by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 33,437 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,334,000 after buying an additional 1,323 shares during the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Allstate Stock Performance

NYSE:ALL opened at $207.14 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $54.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The Allstate Co. has a 52 week low of $156.66 and a 52 week high of $212.91. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $196.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.06.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 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 Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on ALL shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Allstate from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $219.80.

Insider Activity

In related 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.