The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Bought by Shell Asset Management Co.

Shell Asset Management Co. raised its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 49.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,655 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,799 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co.'s holdings in Allstate were worth $5,139,000 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 acquired a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ALL shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Allstate from $200.00 to $197.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. StockNews.com raised Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Allstate from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Argus raised Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $225.20.

Allstate Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:ALL traded down $3.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $205.09. The company had a trading volume of 494,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,827,884. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.07, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $199.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.02. 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 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.41 billion. Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. Allstate's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This is a positive change from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Allstate's payout ratio is currently 27.32%.

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

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.