Magnetar Financial LLC Lowers Stock Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Magnetar Financial LLC lowered its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 65.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,743 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 10,936 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $1,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Allstate by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,496,306 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,190,758,000 after purchasing an additional 126,922 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Allstate by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,228,581 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,178,164,000 after purchasing an additional 74,537 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Allstate by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,834,172 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $353,610,000 after purchasing an additional 19,463 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in Allstate by 15,062.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,119,129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $215,757,000 after buying an additional 1,111,748 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in Allstate by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 933,352 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $177,010,000 after buying an additional 98,179 shares during the period. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Allstate Stock Down 1.7 %

ALL opened at $206.60 on Friday. The Allstate Co. has a fifty-two week low of $156.66 and a fifty-two week high of $212.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $193.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $193.07. 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.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. Allstate’s payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Allstate declared that its board 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 buy up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Argus raised Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.94.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.