The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Sold by Two Sigma Advisers LP

Two Sigma Advisers LP decreased its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 65.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,100 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 102,700 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP's holdings in Allstate were worth $10,623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALL traded up $3.99 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $207.23. The company had a trading volume of 529,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,608,189. The Allstate Co. has a 1 year low of $156.66 and a 1 year high of $212.91. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $199.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market cap of $54.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Allstate's payout ratio is 27.32%.

Allstate announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Allstate from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Allstate in a report on Friday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Allstate has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.20.

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.