Aberdeen Group plc Acquires 93,239 Shares of The Allstate Corporation $ALL

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its holdings in The Allstate Corporation by 96.4%, acquiring an additional 93,239 shares, bringing its total to approximately 190,000 shares worth $39.2 million.
• Allstate's quarterly earnings exceeded analysts' expectations, reporting $5.94 earnings per share against a consensus estimate of $3.20, despite a revenue of $15.05 billion which was below the expected $16.59 billion.
• The company declared a $1.00 per share quarterly dividend, effective October 1st, providing a 1.9% yield based on an annualized amount of $4.00.

Aberdeen Group plc grew its holdings in shares of The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 96.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 189,999 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 93,239 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.07% of Allstate worth $39,215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 9.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,792,181 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $371,097,000 after acquiring an additional 151,148 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 4.9% during the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 4,630 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $959,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 162.7% during the first quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 10,740 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,224,000 after acquiring an additional 6,652 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 61.5% during the first quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 36,914 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $7,644,000 after acquiring an additional 14,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 11.1% during the first quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 80,155 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $16,598,000 after acquiring an additional 8,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company set a $202.00 target price on shares of Allstate and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $254.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $237.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $230.73.

Allstate Stock Down 3.3%

ALL traded down $7.0550 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $206.5650. The company had a trading volume of 1,990,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,732,317. The company has a market capitalization of $54.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.71, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.35. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $198.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $198.81. The Allstate Corporation has a 52 week low of $176.00 and a 52 week high of $214.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts' expectations of $16.59 billion. Allstate had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 28.74%. The business's revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.61 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Allstate Corporation will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Allstate's payout ratio is 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.