Employees Retirement System of Texas Increases Stock Holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Employees Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 27.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 13,003 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Allstate were worth $11,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Allstate by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 54,276 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $10,464,000 after acquiring an additional 3,244 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 2,331 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 60.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,253,000 after buying an additional 2,443 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter worth approximately $218,000. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its position in Allstate by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 3,842 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $741,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Allstate from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Allstate from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.20.

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of ALL traded up $2.89 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $209.65. 2,491,873 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,783,945. The stock has a market cap of $55.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $199.44 and a 200-day moving average of $196.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36. The Allstate Co. has a 52 week low of $156.66 and a 52 week high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.13 earnings per share. Allstate's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Allstate Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.32%.

Allstate 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.