The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) Shares Bought by Versant Capital Management Inc

Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 70.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 188 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Allstate were worth $30,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ALL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at $212,771,000. Palestra Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at $83,561,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at $81,571,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Allstate in the 1st quarter valued at $95,764,000. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at $52,042,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Stock Performance

Allstate stock traded up $3.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $172.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 204,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,570,971. The firm has a market cap of $45.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.48, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $164.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $164.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $104.29 and a twelve month high of $180.87.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The insurance provider reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $1.28. Allstate had a net margin of 5.03% and a return on equity of 24.05%. The company had revenue of $15.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($4.42) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 13.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.24%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Suren Gupta sold 45,775 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.28, for a total transaction of $8,114,992.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 89,930 shares in the company, valued at $15,942,790.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Allstate from $213.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $194.00 price target on shares of Allstate in a research note on Friday, July 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Allstate from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Allstate from $191.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Allstate from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $184.06.

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.