Simplicity Solutions LLC Raises Stock Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Simplicity Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 19.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 827 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter valued at $4,312,000. SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its position in Allstate by 175.2% during the fourth quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 15,682 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,209,000 after buying an additional 9,984 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Allstate by 484.8% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 332,104 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,488,000 after buying an additional 275,319 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Allstate by 214.6% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,570 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 1,071 shares during the period. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH grew its position in Allstate by 88.7% during the fourth quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 24,496 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,429,000 after buying an additional 11,512 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on ALL shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Allstate from $166.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Allstate from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $130.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Allstate from $171.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Allstate news, CAO John C. Pintozzi sold 4,000 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total transaction of $637,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,712,069.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Allstate news, CAO John C. Pintozzi sold 4,000 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total transaction of $637,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,712,069.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John E. Dugenske sold 31,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.20, for a total transaction of $5,276,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 63,731 shares in the company, valued at $10,847,016.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Allstate Stock Performance

ALL opened at $162.92 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.86 billion, a PE ratio of -131.39, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.52. The Allstate Co. has a twelve month low of $100.57 and a twelve month high of $174.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $163.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $146.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $5.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $1.95. Allstate had a negative net margin of 0.33% and a positive return on equity of 2.67%. The company had revenue of $14.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.36) earnings per share. Allstate’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 13.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Allstate’s payout ratio is -296.77%.

Allstate Company 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.