Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 21.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,855 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 11,606 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s holdings in Allstate were worth $12,889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Allstate by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 577,934 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $109,605,000 after buying an additional 28,584 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Allstate by 117.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $944,000 after buying an additional 2,643 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Allstate by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 58,600 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $11,297,000 after buying an additional 3,800 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Allstate by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 508,664 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $98,065,000 after purchasing an additional 48,382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its stake in Allstate by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 401,542 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $77,413,000 after purchasing an additional 100,311 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

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Allstate Price Performance

Shares of Allstate stock traded up $3.75 during trading on Thursday, hitting $202.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,674,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,919,515. The firm has a market cap of $53.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The Allstate Co. has a 12 month low of $156.66 and a 12 month high of $209.88. The business's 50-day moving average is $191.39 and its 200 day moving average is $192.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on ALL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Allstate from $209.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Argus upgraded Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Allstate has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $217.94.

Allstate Company 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.