ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) Now Covered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) in a research note issued to investors on Monday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

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

ALLETE Stock Performance

ALE opened at $64.81 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. ALLETE has a 12-month low of $55.86 and a 12-month high of $65.86. The business has a 50 day moving average of $64.49 and a 200-day moving average of $63.81. The stock has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.77 and a beta of 0.81.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last posted its quarterly 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). ALLETE had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The business had revenue of $407.20 million during the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.49 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.705 per share. This represents a $2.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This is a positive change from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.38%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ALLETE

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC increased its stake in ALLETE by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of ALLETE by 23.6% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $568,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in ALLETE by 8.6% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in ALLETE by 1.8% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 34,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,157,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 53,536 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,338,000 after acquiring an additional 4,658 shares during the period. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ALLETE

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.