Hickory Point Bank & Trust Invests $329,000 in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Hickory Point Bank & Trust bought a new stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,709 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $329,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Allstate in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Allstate in the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at $57,000. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Allstate Trading Up 0.3 %

Allstate stock traded up $0.62 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $199.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,598,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,861,407. The stock's fifty day moving average is $190.50 and its 200 day moving average is $191.41. The Allstate Co. has a 1-year low of $154.76 and a 1-year high of $209.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.52. 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 issued 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 net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are 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 issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. This is a boost from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Allstate from $220.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Allstate from $209.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Allstate presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.