KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys Shares of 100,068 The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 100,068 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $19,370,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in Allstate by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,496,306 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,190,758,000 after acquiring an additional 126,922 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Allstate by 1.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,228,581 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,178,164,000 after acquiring an additional 74,537 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,834,172 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $353,610,000 after purchasing an additional 19,463 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 15,062.3% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,119,129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $215,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 11.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 933,352 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $177,010,000 after purchasing an additional 98,179 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was 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 approximately $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Price Performance

NYSE:ALL opened at $206.60 on Monday. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $193.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $193.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The Allstate Co. has a 12-month low of $156.66 and a 12-month high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. On average, analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share 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 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Allstate presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.94.

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.