J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Grows Stake in The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL)

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG increased its holdings in The Allstate Corporation by 616.7% during Q1, owning 100,399 shares valued at approximately $20.79 million.
• Several analysts recently revised their ratings on Allstate, with Wall Street Zen downgrading the stock from "buy" to "hold," while Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating with a price target increase.
• Allstate is set to pay a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share on October 1, representing an annualized yield of 2.0% and a payout ratio of 27.32%.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG increased its position in shares of The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 616.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 100,399 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 86,390 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Allstate were worth $20,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ALL. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Allstate by 30.3% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,361 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,352,000 after buying an additional 2,643 shares during the last quarter. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Allstate during the first quarter worth $3,341,000. Dock Street Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Allstate during the first quarter worth $207,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in Allstate by 5.5% during the first quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 57,499 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $11,906,000 after buying an additional 2,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blackstone Inc. acquired a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth $52,053,000. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of ALL traded down $3.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $199.71. 2,041,482 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,722,043. The stock has a market cap of $52.63 billion, a PE ratio of 9.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $198.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $197.27. The Allstate Corporation has a 12 month low of $168.36 and a 12 month high of $213.18.

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

Allstate Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Allstate's payout ratio is presently 18.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Allstate in a report on Friday, June 6th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $237.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Allstate in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Allstate from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $228.40.

Allstate 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.