Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Buys 521 Shares of Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE) by 3.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,744 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 521 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC’s holdings in Allegion were worth $2,586,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ALLE. Crew Capital Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Allegion during the third quarter worth $261,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Allegion by 61.0% in the 3rd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 190 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Allegion by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 460,290 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $67,083,000 after acquiring an additional 13,095 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Allegion by 44.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 500 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in shares of Allegion by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,955 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

Allegion Price Performance

Allegion stock traded down $1.57 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $151.79. The company had a trading volume of 249,083 shares, compared to its average volume of 697,204. The company has a market capitalization of $13.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.76, a P/E/G ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 1.12. Allegion plc has a 12-month low of $95.94 and a 12-month high of $156.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $140.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Allegion (NYSE:ALLE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.12. Allegion had a net margin of 15.08% and a return on equity of 47.21%. The business had revenue of $965.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $953.63 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.76 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Allegion plc will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Allegion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 20th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 20th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Allegion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on ALLE. Barclays increased their price target on Allegion from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Mizuho increased their price target on Allegion from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Allegion from $137.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Allegion from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Allegion has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $142.25.

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.