GQG Partners LLC Purchases 1,685,694 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

GQG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 64.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,316,516 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,685,694 shares during the quarter. Allstate comprises about 1.2% of GQG Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. GQG Partners LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $832,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. United Bank acquired a new position in shares of Allstate in the third quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Allstate by 38.0% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,497 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,067,000 after acquiring an additional 2,888 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Allstate during the third quarter valued at $240,000. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Allstate by 4.9% in the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 6,396 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,212,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Allstate by 29.9% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 40,549 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,694,000 after purchasing an additional 9,336 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity at Allstate

In other Allstate 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Allstate Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Allstate stock opened at $207.51 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 52 week low of $156.66 and a 52 week high of $212.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $194.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $193.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.00 billion, a PE ratio of 12.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to reacquire up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.