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

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday. 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 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.00.

ALLETE Stock Performance

ALE stock opened at $64.36 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63 and a beta of 0.80. ALLETE has a 12-month low of $54.71 and a 12-month high of $65.86. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.59.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS 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 last year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS.

Institutional Trading of ALLETE

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALE. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ALLETE during the first quarter worth $439,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in ALLETE during the first quarter worth about $410,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in ALLETE by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,615,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $394,548,000 after purchasing an additional 35,992 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its holdings in ALLETE by 69.0% in the 1st quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 6,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 2,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of ALLETE by 1,118.1% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,156 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 1,979 shares in the last quarter. 76.55% of the stock is currently 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.