Argyle Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 26.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,545 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 6,350 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Allstate were worth $2,456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALL. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Allstate in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Allstate by 152.7% during 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 last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Allstate in the third quarter worth $48,000. 76.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO John C. Pintozzi sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 10,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,712,069.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO John C. Pintozzi sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John E. Dugenske sold 31,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 63,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,847,016.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James boosted their target price on Allstate from $155.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Allstate in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $193.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Allstate from $181.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Allstate from $187.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.71.

Allstate Price Performance

ALL traded down $2.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $170.07. 1,279,038 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,336,406. The company has a market cap of $44.74 billion, a PE ratio of -137.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.52. The Allstate Co. has a 1 year low of $100.57 and a 1 year high of $176.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $165.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $149.63.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $5.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.87 by $1.95. The company had revenue of $14.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.69 billion. Allstate had a positive return on equity of 2.67% and a negative net margin of 0.33%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.36) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 13.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. This is a positive change from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Allstate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -296.77%.

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.