Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Acquires 1,228 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 29.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,349 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,228 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Allstate were worth $1,031,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Apella Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Allstate by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,231 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $623,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Allstate by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,990 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in Allstate by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Allstate by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,403 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Allstate by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,505 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Allstate

In other Allstate news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of Allstate stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,378,990.95. The trade was a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on ALL. Barclays cut their price objective on Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI upgraded Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $219.80.

Allstate Stock Performance

Shares of Allstate stock opened at $206.46 on Monday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $195.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $193.91. The Allstate Co. has a 1-year low of $156.66 and a 1-year high of $212.91. The company has a market cap of $54.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.15, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock 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 repurchase up to 3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Allstate’s payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

Allstate 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.