Cullen Investment Group LTD. Invests $2.02 Million in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. acquired a new position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 14,452 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,023,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ALL. Ellsworth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth about $4,312,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 175.2% during the 4th quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 15,682 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,209,000 after buying an additional 9,984 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 484.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 332,104 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $46,488,000 after buying an additional 275,319 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 214.6% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,570 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 1,071 shares during the period. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 88.7% during the 4th quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 24,496 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,429,000 after buying an additional 11,512 shares during the period. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on ALL shares. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Allstate from $171.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Allstate from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. HSBC raised shares of Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $158.00 to $190.00 in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Allstate from $172.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Allstate presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $173.71.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In other news, insider John E. Dugenske sold 31,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.20, for a total transaction of $5,276,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 63,731 shares in the company, valued at $10,847,016.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CAO John C. Pintozzi sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total transaction of $637,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,712,069.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John E. Dugenske sold 31,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.20, for a total transaction of $5,276,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 63,731 shares in the company, valued at $10,847,016.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Allstate Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE ALL traded down $1.05 on Monday, hitting $165.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,126,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,691,804. The Allstate Co. has a 1-year low of $100.57 and a 1-year high of $174.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company's 50-day moving average is $163.04 and its 200 day moving average is $145.58. The firm has a market cap of $43.61 billion, a PE ratio of -134.81, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.52.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $5.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.87 by $1.95. Allstate had a negative net margin of 0.33% and a positive return on equity of 2.67%. The company had revenue of $14.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.36) earnings per share. Allstate's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 13.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This is a boost from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is -296.77%.

Allstate Company 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.