Allegion (NYSE:ALLE) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

ALLE has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Allegion from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Allegion from $152.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Allegion from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Allegion from $134.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.33.

Allegion Trading Down 1.5 %

Allegion stock opened at $127.50 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $137.32. Allegion has a 12 month low of $113.27 and a 12 month high of $156.10. The company has a market capitalization of $11.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 1.11.

Allegion (NYSE:ALLE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.11. Allegion had a return on equity of 45.12% and a net margin of 15.84%. The business had revenue of $945.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $938.91 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Allegion will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Allegion Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. This is a boost from Allegion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Allegion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Allegion news, CAO Nickolas A. Musial sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.70, for a total value of $50,254.10. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $620,008.40. This trade represents a 7.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John H. Stone bought 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $140.70 per share, for a total transaction of $1,055,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 120,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,951,676.70. The trade was a 6.64 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALLE. Fiduciary Management Inc. WI purchased a new position in shares of Allegion during the 4th quarter valued at about $116,484,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Allegion during the 4th quarter valued at about $108,058,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in shares of Allegion by 96.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,674,644 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $244,063,000 after buying an additional 823,874 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Allegion during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,175,000. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Allegion by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,716,756 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $616,503,000 after buying an additional 488,390 shares in the last quarter. 92.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Allegion

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.