Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Allegion plc (NYSE:ALLE - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,540,000 shares, an increase of 5.5% from the November 30th total of 1,460,000 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 845,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Allegion from $137.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Allegion from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Allegion from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Allegion from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $144.60.

Insider Activity at Allegion

In other news, SVP Robert C. Martens sold 8,035 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.92, for a total value of $1,164,432.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,104 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,029,511.68. This represents a 53.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO John H. Stone bought 7,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $140.70 per share, with a total value of $1,055,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 120,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,951,676.70. This represents a 6.64 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Allegion

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALLE. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its position in Allegion by 96.8% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 823,874 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Allegion by 397.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 606,901 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $88,450,000 after purchasing an additional 484,995 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Allegion during the 3rd quarter valued at about $666,840,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Allegion by 483.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 515,563 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $60,914,000 after purchasing an additional 427,146 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Allegion by 13.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,904,632 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $277,581,000 after purchasing an additional 232,395 shares during the last quarter. 92.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Allegion Price Performance

ALLE stock traded down $0.29 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $130.68. 385,943 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 727,992. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.31. Allegion has a 52 week low of $113.27 and a 52 week high of $156.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.10.

Allegion (NYSE:ALLE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.18. Allegion had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 45.64%. The firm had revenue of $967.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $970.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Allegion will post 7.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allegion Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Allegion's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.49%.

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.