Sapient Capital LLC Buys Shares of 4,974 The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 4,974 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $701,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Allstate in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Allstate in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Allstate by 152.7% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 278 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Allstate during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Price Performance

ALL stock traded down $1.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $168.18. The company had a trading volume of 1,668,295 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,508,644. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a market capitalization of $44.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.51. The Allstate Co. has a 12-month low of $100.57 and a 12-month high of $177.37. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $166.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $150.95.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The insurance provider reported $5.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.11 by $1.02. The business had revenue of $15.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.76 billion. Allstate had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 14.44%. The business’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.30) EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 14.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This is an increase from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio is 81.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ALL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Allstate from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. TheStreet raised Allstate from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Allstate from $166.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Allstate has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.18.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In related news, CAO John C. Pintozzi sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total value of $637,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,736 shares in the company, valued at $1,712,069.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Allstate news, CAO John C. Pintozzi sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.47, for a total transaction of $637,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 10,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,712,069.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John E. Dugenske sold 31,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.20, for a total value of $5,276,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 63,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,847,016.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.