The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Acquired by Polar Capital Holdings Plc

Polar Capital Holdings Plc increased its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,498 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,458 shares during the quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc’s holdings in Allstate were worth $13,977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Allstate by 117.3% in the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $944,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Allstate by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 58,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $11,297,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Allstate by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 508,664 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $98,065,000 after acquiring an additional 48,382 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its holdings in Allstate by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 401,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,413,000 after acquiring an additional 100,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Allstate by 56.0% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 186,792 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $36,012,000 after acquiring an additional 67,032 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ALL shares. Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Allstate from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Allstate from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Allstate from $200.00 to $197.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Allstate has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.20.

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of ALL opened at $205.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32. The Allstate Co. has a fifty-two week low of $156.66 and a fifty-two week high of $212.91. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $199.34 and its 200-day moving average is $195.49.

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

Allstate declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.32%.

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.