IPG Investment Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 6,809 The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

IPG Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 6,809 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,319,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ALL. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in Allstate by 45.9% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 63,410 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,225,000 after acquiring an additional 19,947 shares during the last quarter. Allianz SE bought a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $314,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Allstate by 94.8% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 596 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA lifted its stake in Allstate by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 12,135 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,340,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in Allstate by 29.8% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 5,349 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,031,000 after buying an additional 1,228 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays cut their price target on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI raised Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Finally, Argus raised shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Allstate has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $219.80.

Insider Activity

In other 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares in the company, valued at $3,378,990.95. This trade represents a 68.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Allstate stock opened at $206.46 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $195.81 and its 200 day moving average is $193.85. The Allstate Co. has a one year low of $156.66 and a one year high of $212.91. The firm has a market cap of $54.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s payout ratio is 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to buy up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Allstate

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.