Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Purchases 5,093 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 34.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,962 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,093 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in Allstate were worth $3,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ALL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at $344,354,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Allstate by 64.1% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,316,516 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $832,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685,694 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in Allstate by 15,062.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,119,129 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $215,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,748 shares during the last quarter. Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. purchased a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth approximately $143,165,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Allstate by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,635,424 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,291,783,000 after acquiring an additional 389,426 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company's stock.

Allstate Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of ALL traded down $1.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $193.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,156,065 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,612,496. 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 company has a market cap of $51.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The business has a fifty day moving average of $197.54 and a 200 day moving average of $194.49. The Allstate Co. has a 1 year low of $156.66 and a 1 year high of $212.91.

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

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.54%.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Argus upgraded Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $219.27.

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.