Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Makes New Investment in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 207 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $40,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 63.2% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 265,767 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $51,235,000 after acquiring an additional 102,937 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 961,983 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $185,438,000 after acquiring an additional 78,130 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 279,365 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $53,859,000 after acquiring an additional 42,118 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 231.8% in the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 20,149 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,885,000 after acquiring an additional 14,077 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter worth $377,000. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Allstate Stock Up 5.5 %

ALL opened at $193.49 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $51.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $196.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.17. 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 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 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, equities analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays dropped their price objective on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Argus raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.00.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Allstate

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.