Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,010 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $388,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 15,062.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,119,129 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $215,757,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111,748 shares during the period. National Pension Service grew its position in Allstate by 69.7% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 708,098 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $136,514,000 after acquiring an additional 290,858 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Allstate by 22,981.9% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 269,135 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $51,887,000 after buying an additional 267,969 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in Allstate by 291.9% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 356,065 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $67,528,000 after purchasing an additional 265,213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prana Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Allstate by 539.9% during the third quarter. Prana Capital Management LP now owns 273,655 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $51,899,000 after purchasing an additional 230,893 shares during the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALL traded up $5.33 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $210.20. The stock had a trading volume of 2,542,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,501,458. The business's fifty day moving average is $192.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $192.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $55.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37, 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 $212.96.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a positive change from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays reduced their price target on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Allstate has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $217.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Allstate 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Allstate 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.