Mount Lucas Management LP Sells 553 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Mount Lucas Management LP lowered its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 17.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,676 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 553 shares during the period. Mount Lucas Management LP’s holdings in Allstate were worth $516,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Allstate by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,496,306 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,190,758,000 after acquiring an additional 126,922 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Allstate by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,228,581 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,178,164,000 after acquiring an additional 74,537 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Allstate by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,834,172 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $353,610,000 after acquiring an additional 19,463 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Allstate by 15,062.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,119,129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $215,757,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Allstate by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 933,352 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $177,010,000 after purchasing an additional 98,179 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $7,480,226.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Allstate from $209.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.94.

Allstate Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE:ALL opened at $200.87 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $53.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. 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 fifty-two week low of $155.59 and a fifty-two week high of $209.88. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $191.82.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. Analysts predict 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 share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Allstate’s payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

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.