Ariel Investments LLC Has $35.30 Million Stock Holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Ariel Investments LLC lowered its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 29.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 183,116 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 77,549 shares during the period. Ariel Investments LLC owned about 0.07% of Allstate worth $35,303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ALL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth $344,354,000. GQG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 64.1% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,316,516 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $832,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685,694 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in Allstate by 15,062.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,119,129 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $215,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,748 shares in the last quarter. Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. acquired a new stake in Allstate during the 4th quarter worth about $143,165,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Allstate by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,496,017 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $673,997,000 after buying an additional 477,221 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of Allstate stock traded up $1.08 on Monday, reaching $200.38. The stock had a trading volume of 1,292,704 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,617,797. The Allstate Co. has a fifty-two week low of $156.66 and a fifty-two week high of $212.91. The business's 50-day moving average price is $198.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $53.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $16.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.13 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 an increase 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 2.00%. Allstate's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.32%.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were 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 approximately $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays dropped their target price on Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One 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, Allstate presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $223.60.

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.