Advisors Capital Management LLC Buys New Position in The Allstate Corporation $ALL

Key Points

• Advisors Capital Management LLC has acquired a new position in The Allstate Corporation, purchasing 1,456 shares valued at approximately $301,000.
• The Allstate Corporation reported an EPS of $5.94 for its latest quarter, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.20.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.00, resulting in an annualized dividend of $4.00 and a yield of 2.0%.

Advisors Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,456 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Allstate in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Allstate by 113.8% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 1st quarter worth about $43,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, 1 North Wealth Services LLC acquired a new position in Allstate in the 1st quarter valued at about $51,000. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $260.00 price objective (up from $250.00) on shares of Allstate in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $202.00 price target on Allstate and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wolfe Research raised Allstate to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Allstate from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Allstate from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $231.47.

Allstate Stock Up 0.5%

Allstate stock traded up $1.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $197.36. The stock had a trading volume of 961,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,684,515. The Allstate Corporation has a 12 month low of $176.00 and a 12 month high of $214.76. The company has a market capitalization of $52.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.27, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $201.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $200.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $5.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.20 by $2.74. Allstate had a return on equity of 28.74% and a net margin of 8.79%.The business had revenue of $15.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.61 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Allstate Corporation will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.81%.

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.