Richwood Investment Advisors LLC Grows Stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Richwood Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,602 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $309,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Apella Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $623,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,329 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $571,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Allstate Price Performance

ALL stock opened at $206.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36. The Allstate Co. has a 52 week low of $156.66 and a 52 week high of $212.91. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $193.75 and its 200 day moving average is $193.09. The firm has a market cap of $54.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. Research analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.94.

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.