MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 11,416 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 203 shares during the quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Allstate were worth $2,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Allstate by 157.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,591,138 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,270,705,000 after purchasing an additional 4,035,629 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at about $344,354,000. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Allstate by 64.1% in the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,316,516 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $832,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685,694 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Allstate by 15,062.3% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,119,129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $215,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,748 shares during the period. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Allstate by 1,303.3% in the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 824,838 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $159,021,000 after purchasing an additional 766,058 shares during the period. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Allstate Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE ALL opened at $208.09 on Wednesday. The Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $156.66 and a twelve month high of $212.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $199.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.11 billion, a PE ratio of 12.25, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by ($0.45). The business had revenue of $14.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.41 billion. Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

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

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ALL. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Allstate from $200.00 to $197.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Allstate from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Allstate presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.20.

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.