First Trust Advisors LP Increases Stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 47.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 575,608 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 184,491 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.22% of Allstate worth $110,971,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company'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 transaction of $7,480,226.06. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ALL shares. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Argus raised Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Allstate from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Allstate has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $219.27.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of Allstate stock traded down $1.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $193.02. 1,150,453 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,612,496. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $197.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $194.49. The company has a market capitalization of $51.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The Allstate Co. has a 12 month low of $156.66 and a 12 month high of $212.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Allstate's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.54%.

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.