Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 117,780 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,641,033 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 117,780 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Allstate were worth $316,375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALL. Apella Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Intrust Bank NA lifted its stake in Allstate by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 12,135 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,340,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Allstate by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of Allstate by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $697,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Allstate by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Allstate Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Allstate stock opened at $194.61 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $197.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.42. The Allstate Co. has a 1 year low of $156.66 and a 1 year high of $212.91. The company has a market capitalization of $51.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36.

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, topping 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%. Research analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on ALL shares. Barclays reduced 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. Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Allstate from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Argus raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.27.

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.