OV Management LLC Increases Stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

OV Management LLC lifted its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 774 shares during the quarter. Allstate makes up about 0.9% of OV Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. OV Management LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $2,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. United Bank purchased a new position in shares of Allstate during the third quarter valued at about $209,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Allstate by 11.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 933,352 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $177,010,000 after buying an additional 98,179 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in Allstate by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 4,123 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $782,000 after buying an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its stake in Allstate by 110.7% in the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 3,454 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,815 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,031,000. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of ALL opened at $207.14 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $54.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.19, 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. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $196.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $194.06.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. Equities research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Allstate from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $219.80.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Allstate 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.