Castle Hook Partners LP Raises Holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Castle Hook Partners LP increased its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 1,303.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 824,838 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 766,058 shares during the period. Allstate accounts for 2.0% of Castle Hook Partners LP's holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Castle Hook Partners LP owned 0.31% of Allstate worth $159,021,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Allstate Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE:ALL traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $202.57. The stock had a trading volume of 707,236 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,613,696. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $199.06 and a 200 day moving average of $195.15. The company has a market capitalization of $53.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.92, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32. 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 posted 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 return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.13 EPS. Allstate's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.32%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Allstate from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays decreased their price objective on Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Raymond James reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price (up previously from $240.00) on shares of Allstate in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $225.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $7,480,226.06. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

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.