National Pension Service Increases Stock Position in The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL)

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its holdings in The Allstate Corporation by 6.5%, owning 753,888 shares valued at approximately $156 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Research analysts have set a new average target price of $227.50 for Allstate, with the majority of ratings being "Moderate Buy" and at least fifteen buy ratings issued.
• Allstate reported strong earnings, with $5.94 earnings per share for the latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations significantly despite a revenue dip.

National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 6.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 753,888 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 45,790 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.28% of Allstate worth $156,108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Allstate during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in Allstate during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Allstate by 113.8% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Allstate during the 1st quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Allstate to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. 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. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $260.00 target price (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Allstate in a report on Monday, August 4th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Allstate in a research report on Friday, June 6th. They set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $229.33.

Allstate Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:ALL traded down $1.94 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $206.76. The stock had a trading volume of 1,049,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,575,931. The Allstate Corporation has a 1 year low of $176.00 and a 1 year high of $213.18. The firm's 50 day moving average is $198.15 and its 200-day moving average is $198.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.35.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $15.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.59 billion. Allstate had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 28.74%. The company's revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.61 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Allstate Corporation will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. 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.