Zacks Investment Management Buys Shares of 18,862 The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Zacks Investment Management bought a new position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 18,862 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,637,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ALL. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Allstate by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 26,091 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $5,030,000 after purchasing an additional 4,082 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 41.7% in the fourth quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 210,750 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $40,630,000 after purchasing an additional 62,050 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its holdings in Allstate by 63.6% during the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 381,507 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $73,551,000 after buying an additional 148,248 shares in the last quarter. AGP Franklin LLC acquired a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth about $1,003,000. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its position in Allstate by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 41,612 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $8,022,000 after buying an additional 7,832 shares during the period. 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 business's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ALL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Allstate from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Allstate has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $219.27.

Allstate Stock Down 4.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ALL traded down $7.71 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $186.95. 1,296,091 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,619,643. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36. The Allstate Co. has a 52-week low of $156.66 and a 52-week high of $212.91. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $197.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.42. The firm has a market cap of $49.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.00, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate announced that its board has initiated 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 purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. This is an increase from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is 23.54%.

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.