The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Sold by Hoey Investments Inc.

Hoey Investments Inc. trimmed its position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 22.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,131 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 629 shares during the period. Hoey Investments Inc.’s holdings in Allstate were worth $411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Allstate in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ALL opened at $206.46 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $54.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50 day moving average is $195.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $193.91. The Allstate Co. has a 52 week low of $156.66 and a 52 week high of $212.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. Equities analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to reacquire up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ALL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Allstate presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $219.80.

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.