Mizuho Securities USA LLC Increases Holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 46.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,097 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,975 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $4,838,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Apella Capital LLC grew its position in Allstate by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $623,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Allstate by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Allstate by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Allstate by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $697,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Allstate by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $7,480,226.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Allstate Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ALL opened at $206.60 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The Allstate Co. has a 12-month low of $156.66 and a 12-month high of $212.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ALL shares. Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays cut their price objective on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Allstate has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.94.

Allstate Company 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.