Financial Counselors Inc. Increases Stock Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Financial Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98,921 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,959 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Allstate were worth $19,071,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of ALL. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its holdings in Allstate by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 2,778 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $536,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares during the period. Morey & Quinn Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth $1,955,000. Ipsen Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth $589,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its stake in shares of Allstate by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 187,254 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $36,101,000 after purchasing an additional 7,945 shares during the period. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Allstate by 142.5% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 10,497 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 6,168 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ALL. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Barclays cut their price target on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total transaction of $7,480,226.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This trade 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 is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE ALL opened at $208.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $55.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $194.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $193.43. 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 Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $156.66 and a twelve month high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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.