Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Purchases New Stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. acquired a new stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 43,803 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $8,445,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ALL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter worth $344,354,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 64.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,316,516 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $832,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,685,694 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 15,062.3% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,119,129 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $215,757,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111,748 shares in the last quarter. Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter worth about $143,165,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Allstate by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,635,424 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,291,783,000 after purchasing an additional 389,426 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total transaction of $7,480,226.06. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on ALL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $219.27.

Allstate Price Performance

ALL stock traded down $2.27 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $196.52. The stock had a trading volume of 739,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,612,724. The Allstate Co. has a 1-year low of $156.66 and a 1-year high of $212.91. The stock has a market cap of $52.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The company's 50 day moving average price is $197.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36.

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

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. This is an increase from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate's payout ratio is currently 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.