Bellwether Advisors LLC Makes New $63,000 Investment in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 326 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $63,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ALL. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Allstate during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the firm’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 value of $7,480,226.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut Allstate from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Argus raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research 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 stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $219.27.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of ALL stock opened at $195.56 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $51.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $197.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.74. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is 23.54%.

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.