King Luther Capital Management Corp Lowers Stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

King Luther Capital Management Corp trimmed its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 134,019 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 22,301 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Allstate were worth $25,838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Allstate by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 577,934 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $109,605,000 after buying an additional 28,584 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Allstate by 117.3% during the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $944,000 after acquiring an additional 2,643 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Allstate by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 58,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $11,297,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Allstate by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 508,664 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $98,065,000 after purchasing an additional 48,382 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its position in Allstate by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 401,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $77,413,000 after purchasing an additional 100,311 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on ALL shares. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.94.

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALL opened at $202.25 on Wednesday. The Allstate Co. has a one year low of $156.66 and a one year high of $209.88. The stock has a market cap of $53.60 billion, a PE ratio of 11.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $191.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. On average, analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

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.