Essential Planning LLC. Purchases New Shares in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Essential Planning LLC. purchased a new stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 32,760 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,357,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Allstate in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in Allstate during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Allstate during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in Allstate during the 4th quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Allstate during the 4th quarter worth $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Allstate Price Performance

ALL stock opened at $202.25 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $53.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.90, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $156.66 and a twelve month high of $209.88. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $192.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

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Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase 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 purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $7,480,226.06. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on ALL. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Allstate from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Allstate from $209.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $217.94.

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.

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