Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. Takes Position in The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL)

Key Points

• Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. acquired a new stake in The Allstate Corporation, purchasing 62,864 shares valued at approximately $13 million, making Allstate the fund's 28th largest holding.
• Allstate reported $5.94 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, along with a quarterly revenue of $15.05 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, with a yield of 1.9%, set to be paid on October 1st.

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 62,864 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $13,017,000. Allstate accounts for about 0.9% of Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Allstate during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Allstate by 113.8% during 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 position in Allstate during the first quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Allstate Price Performance

NYSE ALL traded down $1.94 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $206.76. 1,049,492 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,575,931. The Allstate Corporation has a 52-week low of $176.00 and a 52-week high of $213.18. The company has a market capitalization of $54.48 billion, a PE ratio of 9.72, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm's 50-day moving average is $198.18 and its 200-day moving average is $198.33.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $5.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $2.74. Allstate had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 28.74%. The company had revenue of $15.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.61 EPS. Allstate's revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that The Allstate Corporation will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is currently 18.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ALL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Allstate from $237.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Allstate from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Allstate to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $198.00 price objective (up previously from $188.00) on shares of Allstate in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, William Blair began coverage on shares of Allstate in a research report on Friday, June 6th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $229.33.

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.