The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Acquired by Jones Financial Companies Lllp

Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 18.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 123,791 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 19,473 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp's holdings in Allstate were worth $23,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALL. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 4,630 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $893,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 15.0% during the third quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 460 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Allstate by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Allstate by 4.9% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,990 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of ALL traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $199.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,598,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,862,651. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The Allstate Co. has a one year low of $154.76 and a one year high of $209.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.52. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $190.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $191.41.

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

Allstate announced that its board 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate's payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Allstate from $220.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $209.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $231.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.