ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) in a research report report published on Sunday. The firm 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 report on Monday, September 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.00.

ALLETE Price Performance

Shares of ALE stock opened at $64.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.70 and a beta of 0.81. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $64.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.75. ALLETE has a fifty-two week low of $55.60 and a fifty-two week high of $65.86.

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

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.705 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This is a boost from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.37%. ALLETE’s payout ratio is presently 90.38%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ALLETE

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners increased its stake in ALLETE by 59.2% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 30,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,816,000 after acquiring an additional 11,321 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in ALLETE by 249.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 34,367 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,206,000 after acquiring an additional 24,523 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in shares of ALLETE during the second quarter worth about $3,572,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in ALLETE by 1.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 766,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,192,000 after buying an additional 7,739 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

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.