Graham Capital Management L.P. Invests $6.05 Million in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 31,394 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,052,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,635,424 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $6,291,783,000 after purchasing an additional 389,426 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Allstate by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,334,926 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,799,681,000 after purchasing an additional 218,771 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Allstate by 157.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,591,138 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,270,705,000 after buying an additional 4,035,629 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Allstate by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,419,728 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,236,060,000 after purchasing an additional 191,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Allstate by 64.1% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,316,516 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $832,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,685,694 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of Allstate stock traded up $1.34 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $203.83. 113,271 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,609,666. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $199.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The Allstate Co. has a one year low of $156.66 and a one year high of $212.91.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. This is an increase from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.32%.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan 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 plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on ALL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target (up previously from $240.00) on shares of Allstate in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.