Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Sells 133,077 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board decreased its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 24.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 406,192 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 133,077 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.15% of Allstate worth $78,310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Apella Capital LLC increased its stake in Allstate by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA grew its holdings in shares of Allstate by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 12,135 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,340,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Allstate by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,990 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $571,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in Allstate by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,616 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $697,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Allstate by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Allstate Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE ALL opened at $194.61 on Friday. The Allstate Co. has a 52 week low of $156.66 and a 52 week high of $212.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $51.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $197.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.34.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. This is an increase from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Argus upgraded Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Allstate from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.

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