Mezzasalma Advisors LLC Takes Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Mezzasalma Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 8,118 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,565,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Allstate by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 577,934 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $109,605,000 after buying an additional 28,584 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,643 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Allstate by 6.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 100,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Allstate by 38.0% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,497 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,067,000 after purchasing an additional 2,888 shares in the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Allstate Stock Down 0.9 %

Allstate stock opened at $190.24 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $188.86. The company has a market capitalization of $50.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. The Allstate Co. has a fifty-two week low of $153.87 and a fifty-two week high of $209.88.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 26.67%. Equities research analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 16.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ALL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Allstate from $209.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $205.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Allstate from $231.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Allstate from $235.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.13.

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.