Employees Retirement System of Texas Raises Stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 27.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,392 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 13,003 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Allstate were worth $11,643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. United Bank bought a new stake in Allstate during the third quarter worth $209,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Allstate by 1.1% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 32,315 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $6,127,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Allstate by 108.9% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 6,818 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,293,000 after purchasing an additional 3,554 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in Allstate by 47.5% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 157,800 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $29,927,000 after purchasing an additional 50,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in Allstate by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 42,274 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $8,017,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALL traded up $1.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $192.58. The company had a trading volume of 1,876,905 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,620,002. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $196.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.18. The company has a market capitalization of $51.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The Allstate Co. has a 1 year low of $156.66 and a 1 year high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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 plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits 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 leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. This is an increase from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Allstate's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $219.27.

About Allstate

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.