OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Decreases Holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp decreased its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,045 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 2,838 shares during the quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp's holdings in Allstate were worth $3,479,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALL. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Allstate from $200.00 to $197.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Allstate from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Allstate from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $225.20.

Allstate Stock Up 1.9%

ALL traded up $3.86 on Friday, hitting $209.13. 1,110,471 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,614,962. The Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $156.66 and a twelve month high of $212.91. The company has a market cap of $55.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $199.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $195.65.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 EPS 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 company had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.13 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. This is a boost from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Allstate's payout ratio is presently 27.32%.

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

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.