Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. Takes $6 Million Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 31,129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,001,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,972 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 51,032 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,678,000 after buying an additional 7,940 shares during the period. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 417,240 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $79,130,000 after buying an additional 93,357 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 105,343 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,978,000 after buying an additional 2,466 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on ALL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $220.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total transaction of $7,480,226.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALL opened at $199.65 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $190.58 and a 200-day moving average of $191.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.91 billion, a PE ratio of 11.75, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The Allstate Co. has a 12 month low of $154.76 and a 12 month high of $209.88.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Allstate declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.