O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Boosts Holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,568 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,476 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $12,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of ALL opened at $207.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $196.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $194.06. 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 Allstate Co. has a 1-year low of $156.66 and a 1-year high of $212.91. The stock has a market cap of $54.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. As a group, analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to purchase 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s payout ratio is 23.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Allstate from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays dropped their price target on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.