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

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) in a research report report published on Friday morning. The firm 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 report on Monday, September 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ALLETE presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.33.

ALLETE Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of ALE stock opened at $65.32 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $64.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.12. 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 company has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 20.94 and a beta of 0.80.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last released 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%. ALLETE’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.49 earnings per share.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.705 dividend. This is a boost from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ALLETE

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALE. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new position in shares of ALLETE during the third quarter worth $38,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of ALLETE by 261.0% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 783 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in ALLETE in the second quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ALLETE during the second quarter worth $170,000. Finally, Royce & Associates LP bought a new stake in shares of ALLETE in the third quarter valued at about $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

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.