Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC Trims Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC cut its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 125,145 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 4,715 shares during the period. Allstate makes up approximately 1.4% of Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC's holdings in Allstate were worth $24,127,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ALL. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Allstate during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Allstate during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Allstate Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of ALL traded down $7.71 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $186.95. 1,296,091 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,619,643. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.00, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The business's 50-day moving average price is $197.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $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 quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

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

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program 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 programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus raised Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Allstate from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given 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 a consensus target price of $219.27.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $7,480,226.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. 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.