Aviance Capital Partners LLC Boosts Stock Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,466 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $1,247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Andra AP fonden boosted its holdings in Allstate by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 74,700 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $14,401,000 after purchasing an additional 16,200 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth approximately $214,000. Barden Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at $1,488,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Allstate by 131.2% during the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,149 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $608,000 after buying an additional 1,787 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter worth approximately $436,000. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Allstate from $220.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Allstate from $231.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate 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 directly owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Price Performance

ALL opened at $197.42 on Friday. The Allstate Co. has a 1 year low of $155.40 and a 1 year high of $209.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $190.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $191.51. 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 stock has a market cap of $52.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.62, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.52.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. Analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to reacquire up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.