Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 389,426 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,635,424 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 389,426 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 12.32% of Allstate worth $6,291,783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Allstate in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on ALL. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. 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 Allstate stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $7,480,226.06. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Allstate Stock Performance

NYSE ALL opened at $206.60 on Monday. The Allstate Co. has a 52-week low of $156.66 and a 52-week high of $212.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $54.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average of $193.75 and a 200-day moving average of $193.12.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.54%.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to reacquire up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate 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.