Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 117,780 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,641,033 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 117,780 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.62% of Allstate worth $316,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ALL. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in Allstate by 22.8% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 742 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Allstate by 104.2% during the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 5,728 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,086,000 after buying an additional 2,923 shares during the period. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Allstate in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,836,000. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. grew its position in Allstate by 5.3% in the third quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,776 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Allstate by 534.3% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 33,530 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,359,000 after acquiring an additional 28,244 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of ALL stock opened at $194.61 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $197.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.42. 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 stock has a market cap of $51.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.45, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

Insider Activity at Allstate

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Allstate from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.