Royal Bank of Canada Decreases Holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Royal Bank of Canada lowered its position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 707,799 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 11,948 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.27% of Allstate worth $136,456,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Allstate by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 93,422 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $18,011,000 after purchasing an additional 3,900 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at about $12,135,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Allstate in the fourth quarter worth about $1,188,000. Polar Capital Holdings Plc lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 72,498 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $13,977,000 after acquiring an additional 8,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Allstate by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 65,794 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,684,000 after acquiring an additional 5,806 shares during the period. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on ALL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. 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. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target (up previously from $240.00) on shares of Allstate in a research report on Monday, May 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Allstate from $227.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.20.

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of ALL stock opened at $209.13 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $199.48 and its 200 day moving average is $195.75. 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 stock has a market cap of $55.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.31, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32. The Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $156.66 and a twelve month high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released 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). 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 company earned $5.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.32%.

Allstate announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.