Mizuho Securities USA LLC Has $4.84 Million Stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 46.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,097 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,975 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $4,838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Allstate by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,496,306 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,190,758,000 after purchasing an additional 126,922 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Allstate by 1.2% in 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 buying an additional 74,537 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Allstate by 1.1% in 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 buying an additional 19,463 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position 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 last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position 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 last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ALL shares. Barclays lowered their price target on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Argus upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.94.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of ALL opened at $206.60 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $193.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $193.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36. The Allstate Co. has a 52-week low of $156.66 and a 52-week high of $212.91.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. Research analysts forecast that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to reacquire up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.