Poplar Forest Capital LLC Sells 100,140 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Poplar Forest Capital LLC decreased its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 29.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 235,655 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 100,140 shares during the period. Allstate makes up approximately 4.8% of Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $32,987,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ALL. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Allstate by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,309 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $883,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $722,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth approximately $146,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth approximately $273,000. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Allstate by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,950 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,253,000 after acquiring an additional 863 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In related news, CAO John C. Pintozzi sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total value of $637,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,712,069.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider John E. Dugenske sold 31,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.20, for a total value of $5,276,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 63,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,847,016.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO John C. Pintozzi sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total transaction of $637,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 10,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,712,069.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALL traded down $3.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $172.27. The company had a trading volume of 1,761,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,692,202. The Allstate Co. has a 12 month low of $100.57 and a 12 month high of $176.93. The stock has a market cap of $45.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -138.93, a PEG ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.37. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.59.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $5.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $1.95. The company had revenue of $14.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.69 billion. Allstate had a positive return on equity of 2.67% and a negative net margin of 0.33%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($1.36) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 13.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. Allstate’s payout ratio is presently -296.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Allstate from $172.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Roth Mkm raised their target price on Allstate from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. TheStreet upgraded Allstate from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Allstate from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.71.

Allstate 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.