Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 17.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 279,365 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 42,118 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Allstate were worth $53,859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ALL. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ALL shares. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Argus raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.00.

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALL opened at $193.49 on Thursday. The Allstate Co. has a 1-year low of $156.66 and a 1-year high of $212.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $196.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released 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 expect that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 reacquire up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

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

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.