Townsquare Capital LLC Boosts Holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Townsquare Capital LLC raised its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL - Free Report) by 52.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,278 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,155 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in Allstate were worth $1,210,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Allstate in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. 76.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Allstate Price Performance

ALL traded down $7.71 during trading on Monday, hitting $186.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,296,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,619,643. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $197.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.42. The Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $156.66 and a twelve month high of $212.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Allstate's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. Allstate's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Allstate has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $219.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $7,480,226.06. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 is accessible through this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.