WBI Investments LLC Acquires New Stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

WBI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 11,177 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,155,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Texas Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,193,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Allstate by 171.9% in the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 110,832 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $21,367,000 after purchasing an additional 70,073 shares during the period. Tolleson Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at $234,000. State of Wyoming grew its holdings in Allstate by 233.3% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 3,930 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 2,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebrook Private Inc. lifted its holdings in Allstate by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 4,223 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $814,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALL traded down $2.87 during trading on Thursday, reaching $202.44. 1,179,990 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,614,671. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a 50 day moving average of $199.78 and a 200-day moving average of $196.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The Allstate Co. has a 12 month low of $156.66 and a 12 month high of $212.91.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.32%.

Allstate declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on ALL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Allstate in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Allstate from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.20.

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.