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

Research analysts at StockNews.com began coverage on shares of ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) in a report released on Tuesday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

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

ALLETE Stock Performance

NYSE ALE opened at $64.68 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $64.54 and its 200-day moving average is $63.88. The firm has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.73 and a beta of 0.81. ALLETE has a 12-month low of $55.86 and a 12-month high of $65.86. 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 (NYSE:ALE) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $407.20 million for the quarter. ALLETE had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 11.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.49 earnings per share.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALE. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in ALLETE by 249.1% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 34,367 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after buying an additional 24,523 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of ALLETE by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 766,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,192,000 after acquiring an additional 7,739 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ALLETE by 147.1% in the 2nd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 84,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,275,000 after purchasing an additional 50,361 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in ALLETE by 28.3% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 129,635 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,321,000 after purchasing an additional 28,612 shares during the period. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in ALLETE during the second quarter valued at $3,572,000. 76.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.