Auxano Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Auxano Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 5,741 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $804,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ellsworth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at $4,312,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Allstate by 175.2% during the fourth quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 15,682 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,209,000 after acquiring an additional 9,984 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Allstate by 484.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 332,104 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,488,000 after purchasing an additional 275,319 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Allstate by 214.6% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,570 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071 shares during the period. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 88.7% during the 4th quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 24,496 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,429,000 after purchasing an additional 11,512 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In other news, insider John E. Dugenske sold 31,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.20, for a total transaction of $5,276,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 63,731 shares in the company, valued at $10,847,016.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CAO John C. Pintozzi sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total transaction of $637,880.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,712,069.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John E. Dugenske sold 31,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.20, for a total value of $5,276,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 63,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,847,016.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ALL. TheStreet upgraded shares of Allstate from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. HSBC raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $158.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Allstate in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $193.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Allstate from $164.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.71.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALL traded up $0.48 on Tuesday, reaching $170.06. 1,124,491 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,668,506. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $165.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $150.02. The Allstate Co. has a 12 month low of $100.57 and a 12 month high of $176.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $5.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $1.95. Allstate had a positive return on equity of 2.67% and a negative net margin of 0.33%. The company had revenue of $14.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.69 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.36) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 13.44 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is -296.77%.

Allstate Company 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.