Madison Investment Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 5,969 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,151,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ALL. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALL traded up $1.04 on Wednesday, hitting $209.16. 1,086,684 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,495,541. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36. The company's 50 day moving average price is $194.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $193.43. The Allstate Co. has a one year low of $156.66 and a one year high of $212.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.31, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47.

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Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

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 given a $1.00 dividend. This is a boost from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Allstate's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.54%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ALL. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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, Argus raised Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Allstate has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $217.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

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.