Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. Boosts Stock Holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. lifted its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 83.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,606 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,810 shares during the period. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C.’s holdings in Allstate were worth $2,045,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ALL. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Allstate during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Allstate in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Allstate Stock Up 0.5 %

ALL stock opened at $209.16 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $195.10 and a 200 day moving average of $193.54. The firm has a market cap of $55.43 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $156.66 and a twelve month high of $212.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a boost 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 dividend yield of 1.91%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. 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 report on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of 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 issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.