Forum Financial Management LP Grows Stock Holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Forum Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,202 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 523 shares during the quarter. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Allstate were worth $1,967,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its position in shares of Allstate by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 742 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $141,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC raised its holdings in Allstate by 104.2% during the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 5,728 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,086,000 after purchasing an additional 2,923 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Allstate during the third quarter worth approximately $2,836,000. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Allstate by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,776 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,095,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 534.3% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 33,530 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,359,000 after buying an additional 28,244 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Allstate stock opened at $194.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $51.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.45, a price-to-earnings-growth 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $197.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $194.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.54%.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays dropped their price target on Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Allstate from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $219.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.