Barden Capital Management Inc. Buys 146 Shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Barden Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,864 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the quarter. Allstate makes up approximately 1.4% of Barden Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Barden Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Allstate were worth $1,628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new stake in Allstate in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Allstate during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in Allstate in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Price Performance

Allstate stock opened at $208.10 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $199.59 and its 200 day moving average is $197.16. The Allstate Co. has a one year low of $156.66 and a one year high of $213.18. The firm has a market cap of $55.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.35. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.98 by ($0.45). Allstate had a return on equity of 28.20% and a net margin of 7.28%. The firm had revenue of $14.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current year.

Allstate declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Allstate Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. Allstate’s payout ratio is currently 27.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on ALL shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Allstate from $200.00 to $197.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Allstate from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Allstate from $183.00 to $172.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Allstate in a research report on Friday. They issued a “sector outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Allstate from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $225.20.

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.