The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Purchased by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,540 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,178 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Allstate were worth $7,435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in 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 purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA boosted its stake in shares of Allstate by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 12,135 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,340,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Allstate by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,990 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in Allstate by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,616 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $697,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Allstate by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ALL shares. Barclays cut their price target on Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Allstate from $200.00 to $197.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Argus raised Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $225.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company'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 directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Allstate Price Performance

Allstate stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $202.57. 707,236 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,613,696. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The Allstate Co. has a 12-month low of $156.66 and a 12-month high of $212.91. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $199.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.15. The company has a market capitalization of $53.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.92, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.98 by ($0.45). Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.13 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Allstate's payout ratio is presently 27.32%.

Allstate declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.