GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 1,268,825 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 25,026.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,273,895 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 1,268,825 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC owned about 0.48% of Allstate worth $263,785,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ALL. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Allstate by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 508,664 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $98,065,000 after purchasing an additional 48,382 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Allstate by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 186,792 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $36,012,000 after purchasing an additional 67,032 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Allstate by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 40,579 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $7,823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,828 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in Allstate by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 344,875 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $66,489,000 after purchasing an additional 5,786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GDS Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Allstate by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 89,233 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $17,203,000 after purchasing an additional 3,271 shares during the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Allstate Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Allstate stock traded down $1.48 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $209.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 344,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,603,791. The stock has a market cap of $55.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The Allstate Co. has a 52 week low of $156.66 and a 52 week high of $213.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $199.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $196.97.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.98 by ($0.45). Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. The company had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.13 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.91%. Allstate's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.32%.

Allstate announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus raised Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target (up previously from $240.00) on shares of Allstate in a report on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Allstate from $200.00 to $197.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Allstate in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.