SG Americas Securities LLC Raises Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 1,664.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,961 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 16,943 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in Allstate were worth $3,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ALL. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 157.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,591,138 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,270,705,000 after purchasing an additional 4,035,629 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at about $344,354,000. GQG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 64.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,316,516 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $832,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685,694 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 25,026.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,273,895 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $263,785,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268,825 shares during the period. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 1,303.3% in the 4th quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 824,838 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $159,021,000 after purchasing an additional 766,058 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Allstate Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE ALL traded down $1.71 on Friday, reaching $198.61. The company had a trading volume of 1,330,201 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,615,242. The firm has a market cap of $52.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.35. The Allstate Co. has a fifty-two week low of $156.66 and a fifty-two week high of $213.18. The business has a 50 day moving average of $200.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last released 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). The company had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.41 billion. Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. Allstate's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.13 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Allstate's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.32%.

Allstate announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to reacquire up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on ALL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Argus upgraded Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. William Blair initiated coverage on Allstate in a report on Friday, June 6th. They set a "sector outperform" rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Allstate from $200.00 to $197.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Allstate presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.20.

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.