True North Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL)

Key Points

• True North Advisors LLC reduced its stake in The Allstate Corporation by 14.5% in the first quarter, now holding 13,704 shares valued at approximately $2.84 million.
• A recent earnings report showed Allstate with earnings per share (EPS) of $5.94 for the quarter, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.20, while revenue was $15.05 billion, below estimates.
• The company's annualized dividend of $4.00 reflects a dividend yield of 1.9%, with a payout ratio of 18.81%, indicating solid returns to shareholders.

True North Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 14.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,704 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 2,318 shares during the quarter. True North Advisors LLC's holdings in Allstate were worth $2,838,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Allstate by 157.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,591,138 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,270,705,000 after purchasing an additional 4,035,629 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Allstate by 25,026.1% during the first 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 last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP grew its holdings in Allstate by 1,303.3% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $143,165,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Allstate by 261.6% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 832,902 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $160,575,000 after purchasing an additional 602,533 shares during the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Allstate in a report on Tuesday. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Allstate from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $260.00 price target (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Allstate in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Allstate in a research note on Friday, June 6th. They set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Allstate has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $229.20.

Allstate Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Allstate stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $206.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,246,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,757,916. The Allstate Corporation has a 52-week low of $169.95 and a 52-week high of $213.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm's 50-day moving average is $198.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $198.09. The company has a market cap of $54.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.72, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.35.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $5.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $2.74. The company had revenue of $15.05 billion for 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%. Allstate's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.61 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Allstate Corporation will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current 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 $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Allstate's payout ratio is presently 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.