Alta Advisers Ltd Acquires New Position in The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL)

Alta Advisers Ltd bought a new stake in The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,469 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $304,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ALL. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Allstate by 157.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,591,138 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,270,705,000 after purchasing an additional 4,035,629 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth about $344,354,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in Allstate by 64.1% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,316,516 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $832,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685,694 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Allstate by 25,026.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,273,895 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $263,785,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP raised its stake in Allstate by 1,303.3% during the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 824,838 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $159,021,000 after acquiring an additional 766,058 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ALL. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Allstate in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Allstate from $200.00 to $197.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Allstate from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. 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 note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Allstate from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $225.20.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALL traded up $2.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $196.72. 963,005 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,636,549. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.33. The Allstate Corporation has a 52 week low of $158.04 and a 52 week high of $213.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $201.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $196.65.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.98 by ($0.45). Allstate had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 24.62%. The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.13 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that The Allstate Corporation will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.32%.

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.