Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 6,000 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 10.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 6,000 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Allstate were worth $10,892,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALL. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Allstate by 0.5% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 118,950 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $24,631,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Allstate in the first quarter worth $606,000. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE purchased a new position in shares of Allstate during the 1st quarter valued at $232,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its stake in shares of Allstate by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 12,181 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,522,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the period. Finally, Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Allstate by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,561 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,980,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Price Performance

NYSE:ALL opened at $198.61 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market cap of $52.60 billion, a PE ratio of 11.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.35. The Allstate Co. has a 52 week low of $156.66 and a 52 week high of $213.18. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $200.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $197.01.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by ($0.45). The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion during 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%. Allstate’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.32%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ALL shares. Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (up previously from $240.00) on shares of Allstate in a report on Monday, May 5th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Allstate in a report on Friday, May 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Allstate from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.