Teacher Retirement System of Texas Raises Stock Position in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 116.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 351,206 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 188,753 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Allstate were worth $67,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Allstate by 5.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 577,934 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $109,605,000 after acquiring an additional 28,584 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Allstate by 117.3% during the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $944,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Allstate by 6.9% during 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 lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 508,664 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $98,065,000 after purchasing an additional 48,382 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings 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 worth $77,413,000 after buying an additional 100,311 shares during the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In other news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total transaction of $7,480,226.06. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Allstate Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALL opened at $204.77 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $54.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $192.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $192.82. The Allstate Co. has a fifty-two week low of $156.66 and a fifty-two week high of $211.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.36.

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

Allstate announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $1.00 per share. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on ALL. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Allstate presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.94.

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.