Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 48.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,197 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,697 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $1,004,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Allstate Price Performance

NYSE:ALL opened at $202.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $53.67 billion, a PE ratio of 11.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $198.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $194.95. The Allstate Co. has a 52 week low of $156.66 and a 52 week high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by ($0.45). Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. The business had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to reacquire up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ALL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays dropped their target price on Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective (up previously from $240.00) on shares of Allstate in a research note on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $224.73.

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.