Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Acquires 62,050 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 41.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 210,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,050 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $40,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALL. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Allstate in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Allstate in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Allstate Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE ALL opened at $194.53 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $196.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $194.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.45, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The Allstate Co. has a 52-week low of $156.66 and a 52-week high of $212.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to reacquire up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ALL shares. StockNews.com raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were 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 directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.