Allegion (NYSE:ALLE) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Allegion (NYSE:ALLE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on ALLE. Wells Fargo & Company cut Allegion from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and raised their target price for the stock from $139.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho lowered Allegion from a buy rating to a neutral rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $141.00 in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Allegion from $121.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $125.67.

Allegion Stock Performance

Shares of Allegion stock opened at $129.13 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $117.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. Allegion has a 12 month low of $95.94 and a 12 month high of $136.91.

Allegion (NYSE:ALLE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $897.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $904.17 million. Allegion had a return on equity of 51.95% and a net margin of 14.80%. Allegion’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Allegion will post 7.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allegion Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a positive change from Allegion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Allegion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Allegion

In other Allegion news, SVP Robert C. Martens sold 5,391 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.84, for a total transaction of $716,140.44. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,555 shares in the company, valued at $1,003,606.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Allegion news, SVP Robert C. Martens sold 5,391 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.84, for a total transaction of $716,140.44. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,555 shares in the company, valued at $1,003,606.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John H. Stone bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $132.41 per share, for a total transaction of $1,324,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 104,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,803,477.68. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Allegion

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Allegion by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,310,495 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $165,516,000 after purchasing an additional 23,155 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Allegion by 214.1% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 242,313 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $30,699,000 after purchasing an additional 165,165 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Allegion by 39.7% in the third quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 33,364 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,477,000 after purchasing an additional 9,476 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Allegion by 41.2% in the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 35,196 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,667,000 after purchasing an additional 10,272 shares during the period. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its position in Allegion by 7.9% during the third quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 105,262 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $10,975,000 after buying an additional 7,678 shares in the last quarter. 92.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Allegion Company Profile

Allegion plc manufactures and sells mechanical and electronic security products and solutions worldwide. The company offers door controls and systems and exit devices; locks, locksets, portable locks, and key systems and services; electronic security products and access control systems; time, attendance, and workforce productivity systems; doors, accessories, and other.