Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 17.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 279,365 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 42,118 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.11% of Allstate worth $53,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ALL. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Peoples Bank KS purchased a new position in Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Allstate Trading Up 5.5 %

NYSE:ALL opened at $193.49 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $196.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.39, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.36. 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 1 year low of $156.66 and a 1 year high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. Allstate’s payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to reacquire up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on ALL shares. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Argus raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Allstate currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.00.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was 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 owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.