The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Bought by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. raised its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 38.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,183 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 10,050 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Allstate were worth $6,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Allstate by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 136,632 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,032,000 after purchasing an additional 6,616 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Allstate by 1.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 313,754 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $59,503,000 after buying an additional 5,980 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Allstate by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 97,567 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $18,503,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Allstate by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 57,415 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $11,069,000 after acquiring an additional 3,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Allstate by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,719 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total transaction of $7,480,226.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective (up from $240.00) on shares of Allstate in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Allstate from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Allstate from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.20.

Allstate Stock Performance

NYSE:ALL opened at $202.57 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $53.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $199.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $195.15. The Allstate Co. has a 1-year low of $156.66 and a 1-year high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.13 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued 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 yield of 1.97%. Allstate's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.32%.

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.

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