UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Cuts Stock Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 53.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,036 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 23,743 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Allstate were worth $4,056,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Apella Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Allstate by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $623,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Allstate by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Allstate by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on ALL shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. 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 report on Tuesday, February 11th. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $219.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total transaction of $7,480,226.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Allstate Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE:ALL opened at $206.46 on Friday. 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 cap of $54.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50-day moving average of $195.81 and a 200 day moving average of $193.78. 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 data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to reacquire up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.