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

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

Separately, Sidoti raised ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ALLETE presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.33.

ALLETE Price Performance

NYSE ALE opened at $65.32 on Friday. ALLETE has a 1 year low of $55.86 and a 1 year high of $65.86. The business’s fifty day moving average is $64.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.94 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.45.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last issued its earnings results 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). 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 firm’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.49 EPS.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.705 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. This is a positive change from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALE. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of ALLETE by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,143 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after buying an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in ALLETE in the second quarter worth approximately $170,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of ALLETE during the 2nd quarter worth $677,000. Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of ALLETE during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,802,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of ALLETE in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,572,000. 76.55% of the stock is 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.