The Allstate Corporation $ALL Shares Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Key Points

• Franklin Resources boosted its stake in Allstate by 29.2% in the fourth quarter, buying more than 1.13 million shares and bringing its holding to about 5.0 million shares valued at roughly $1.04 billion.
• Allstate reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $10.65 versus the $7.31 consensus and revenue of $16.94 billion, ahead of expectations. Analysts still see a mixed outlook, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $241.67.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.08 per share, payable July 1, for an annualized dividend of $4.32 and a yield of about 2.0%. Insider selling was also noted, including sales by COO Mario Rizzo and insider Mark Q. Prindiville.

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 29.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,007,549 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,131,172 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 1.91% of Allstate worth $1,042,321,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Allstate by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,859,517 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,557,362,000 after purchasing an additional 85,468 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Allstate by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,050,780 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $654,652,000 after purchasing an additional 395,195 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Allstate by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 2,793,645 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $562,388,000 after purchasing an additional 88,620 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Allstate by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,606,451 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $559,435,000 after purchasing an additional 401,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at about $531,294,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Allstate from $229.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Allstate from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $231.00 price target on shares of Allstate in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on Allstate from $207.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Allstate from $260.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Allstate presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $241.67.

Allstate Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Allstate stock opened at $220.98 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $56.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.18. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $213.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $208.65. The Allstate Corporation has a 1-year low of $188.08 and a 1-year high of $227.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The insurance provider reported $10.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.31 by $3.34. The business had revenue of $16.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.24 billion. Allstate had a return on equity of 42.66% and a net margin of 17.81%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.53 EPS. Analysts predict that The Allstate Corporation will post 29.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. Allstate's payout ratio is currently 9.53%.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In other news, COO Mario Rizzo sold 18,578 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.80, for a total transaction of $4,064,866.40. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 82,227 shares in the company, valued at $17,991,267.60. The trade was a 18.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark Q. Prindiville sold 1,550 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.27, for a total value of $335,218.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 27,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,959,968.66. This represents a 5.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 22,353 shares of company stock worth $4,851,560 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.55% of the company's stock.

Allstate Profile

Allstate Corporation is a publicly traded insurance company headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, and is one of the largest personal lines property and casualty insurers in the United States. Founded in 1931 as a subsidiary of Sears, Roebuck and Co, Allstate has grown into a diversified insurer that serves millions of consumers and businesses through a mix of distribution channels and product offerings.

The company underwrites a broad range of insurance products, with primary emphasis on auto and homeowners coverage.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.