Wedmont Private Capital Makes New Investment in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Wedmont Private Capital purchased a new position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL – Get Rating) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,461 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ALL. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Allstate by 40.2% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 187,869 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,022,000 after buying an additional 53,824 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in Allstate during the 1st quarter worth about $1,325,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Allstate by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 23,536 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,260,000 after buying an additional 2,874 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Allstate during the 1st quarter worth about $270,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 36.2% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares during the last quarter. 77.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 29,451 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.18, for a total value of $3,951,735.18. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,236,512.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Stock Performance

NYSE ALL opened at $105.11 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business’s 50 day moving average is $129.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.79. The Allstate Co. has a 12-month low of $104.32 and a 12-month high of $144.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.76, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.59.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The insurance provider reported ($1.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.37) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $13.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.45 billion. Allstate had a negative return on equity of 1.04% and a negative net margin of 2.55%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.75 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 6.81 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 28th will be issued a $0.89 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 27th. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is currently -66.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ALL. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Allstate from $140.00 to $137.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 22nd. Barclays reduced their target price on Allstate from $144.00 to $126.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Allstate from $105.00 to $104.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Allstate from $146.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Allstate in a report on Thursday, January 19th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Allstate presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.31.

Allstate Profile

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The Allstate Corp. engages in the property and casualty insurance business and the provision of protection solutions. It operates through following business segments: Allstate Protection, Protection Services, Allstate Health and Benefits, Run-off Property-Liability, and Corporate and Other. The Allstate Protection segment offers private passenger auto, homeowners, other personal lines, and commercial insurance marketed under the Allstate, National General, and Answer Financial brand names.