iSAM Funds UK Ltd Reduces Stock Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

iSAM Funds UK Ltd lowered its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,421 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 270 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd’s holdings in Allstate were worth $467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Allstate by 117.3% during the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $944,000 after buying an additional 2,643 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Allstate by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 508,664 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $98,065,000 after buying an additional 48,382 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Allstate by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 186,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $36,012,000 after buying an additional 67,032 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Allstate by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 40,579 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in Allstate by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 344,875 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $66,489,000 after purchasing an additional 5,786 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on ALL shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (up from $240.00) on shares of Allstate in a report on Monday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.20.

Allstate Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of Allstate stock opened at $208.09 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of $199.83 and a 200 day moving average of $196.02. The firm has a market cap of $55.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32. The Allstate Co. has a 1 year low of $156.66 and a 1 year high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.98 by ($0.45). Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.41 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is 27.32%.

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.