WBI Investments LLC Makes New $2.16 Million Investment in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

WBI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 11,177 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,155,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ALL. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Allstate by 157.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,591,138 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,270,705,000 after buying an additional 4,035,629 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at about $344,354,000. GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Allstate by 64.1% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 4,316,516 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $832,181,000 after buying an additional 1,685,694 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in Allstate by 15,062.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,119,129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $215,757,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Allstate by 1,303.3% in the 4th quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 824,838 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $159,021,000 after buying an additional 766,058 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ALL. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price (up previously from $240.00) on shares of Allstate in a research note on Monday, May 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Allstate from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Allstate from $217.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Allstate from $200.00 to $197.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Allstate currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $225.20.

Allstate Stock Performance

NYSE ALL opened at $209.13 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $199.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $195.75. The Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $156.66 and a twelve month high of $212.91. The firm has a market cap of $55.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by ($0.45). The company had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.41 billion. Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Allstate Increases Dividend

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

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.