Alerus Financial NA Makes New $883,000 Investment in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Alerus Financial NA bought a new stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 4,582 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $883,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ALL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Allstate by 5.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 577,934 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $109,605,000 after buying an additional 28,584 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Allstate by 117.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $944,000 after acquiring an additional 2,643 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Allstate by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 58,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $11,297,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Allstate by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 508,664 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $98,065,000 after purchasing an additional 48,382 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its stake in shares of Allstate by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 401,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $77,413,000 after purchasing an additional 100,311 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $7,480,226.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.94.

Allstate Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of ALL opened at $209.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The Allstate Co. has a 1-year low of $156.66 and a 1-year high of $212.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $195.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $193.65.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to repurchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.54%.

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.