Taika Capital LP Acquires New Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Taika Capital LP bought a new position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 12,371 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,385,000. Allstate makes up about 1.8% of Taika Capital LP’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Allstate in the 3rd quarter worth $77,819,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in Allstate by 688.4% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 460,282 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $87,292,000 after purchasing an additional 401,901 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its stake in Allstate by 69.7% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 708,098 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $136,514,000 after purchasing an additional 290,858 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Allstate by 22,981.9% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 269,135 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $51,887,000 after buying an additional 267,969 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of ALL opened at $200.87 on Monday. The Allstate Co. has a one year low of $155.59 and a one year high of $209.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $191.82. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $53.24 billion, a PE ratio of 11.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to reacquire up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. 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 research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays decreased their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Allstate from $209.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.94.

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.