Ameriprise Financial Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 20.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 734,558 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 188,467 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.28% of Allstate worth $141,783,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter worth about $344,354,000. GQG Partners LLC grew its position in Allstate by 64.1% during the fourth quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,316,516 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $832,181,000 after buying an additional 1,685,694 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in Allstate by 15,062.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,119,129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $215,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,748 shares in the last quarter. Menora Mivtachim Holdings LTD. acquired a new stake in Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $143,165,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Allstate by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,496,017 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $673,997,000 after buying an additional 477,221 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Allstate Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of ALL stock opened at $202.42 on Wednesday. The Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $156.66 and a twelve month high of $212.91. The stock has a market cap of $53.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $198.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.95. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.98 by ($0.45). The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.41 billion. Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s payout ratio is currently 27.32%.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has approved 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 repurchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Allstate from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Allstate from $240.00 to $228.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $224.73.

Insider Activity

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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.