The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Acquired by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,600 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Allstate were worth $11,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ALL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Allstate by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,437,688 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $229,545,000 after buying an additional 47,038 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in Allstate by 38.1% in the 2nd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,312 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $371,000 after buying an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Allstate in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,411,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Allstate by 117.7% in the 2nd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,357 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $696,000 after buying an additional 2,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its position in Allstate by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 4,137 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $661,000 after buying an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Allstate Stock Performance

ALL stock traded down $2.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $188.85. The company had a trading volume of 1,518,986 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,271,858. The firm has a market cap of $50.01 billion, a PE ratio of 12.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.52. The Allstate Co. has a 1-year low of $150.17 and a 1-year high of $209.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $195.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $186.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $1.71. Allstate had a return on equity of 26.67% and a net margin of 6.77%. The business had revenue of $16.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 16.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is currently 23.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ALL. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Allstate from $205.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Allstate from $231.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Allstate from $220.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Allstate from $205.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Allstate currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $218.13.

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.