ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) in a research note issued to investors on Saturday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Separately, Sidoti upgraded ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.00.

ALLETE Price Performance

Shares of ALE stock opened at $64.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.80 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $64.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.66. ALLETE has a 12 month low of $54.71 and a 12 month high of $65.86.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $407.20 million during the quarter. ALLETE had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 11.49%. The company’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.49 earnings per share.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ALLETE

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in ALLETE by 955.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 897,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,967,000 after buying an additional 812,548 shares during the period. Alpine Associates Management Inc. bought a new position in ALLETE in the second quarter valued at about $21,985,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in ALLETE by 6,668.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 239,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,941,000 after buying an additional 235,670 shares during the last quarter. Water Island Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of ALLETE during the second quarter worth $11,583,000. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC grew its position in shares of ALLETE by 59.1% in the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 441,564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,532,000 after buying an additional 164,064 shares during the last quarter. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ALLETE Company Profile

ALLETE, Inc operates as an energy company. The company operates through Regulated Operations, ALLETE Clean Energy, and Corporate and Other segments. It generates electricity from coal-fired, biomass co-fired / natural gas, hydroelectric, wind, and solar. In addition, the company provides regulated utility electric services in northwestern Wisconsin to approximately 15,000 electric customers, 13,000 natural gas customers, and 10,000 water customers, as well as regulated utility electric services in northeastern Minnesota to approximately 150,000 retail customers and 14 non-affiliated municipal customers.