Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 313,754 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,980 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Allstate worth $59,503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALL. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allstate during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Allstate during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Allstate during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Allstate by 33.9% in the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Allstate in the second quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.47% of the company’s stock.

Allstate Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of Allstate stock opened at $193.56 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $51.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.50. The Allstate Co. has a 52-week low of $134.17 and a 52-week high of $209.88. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $195.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $182.38.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $1.71. Allstate had a return on equity of 26.67% and a net margin of 6.77%. The business had revenue of $16.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Allstate Co. will post 16.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Allstate Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Allstate’s payout ratio is currently 23.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ALL shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Allstate from $193.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Allstate from $175.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Allstate from $220.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America raised their price target on Allstate from $216.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Allstate from $209.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.19.

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.