StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on ALLETE (NYSE:ALE)

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

Separately, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of ALLETE from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $62.00.

ALLETE Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of ALLETE stock opened at $64.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 15.45 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $63.39 and its 200 day moving average is $60.97. ALLETE has a 1 year low of $49.29 and a 1 year high of $65.86.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $354.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.24 million. ALLETE had a net margin of 14.36% and a return on equity of 7.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share.

ALLETE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.7005 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.36%. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ALLETE

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALE. Alpine Associates Management Inc. acquired a new stake in ALLETE during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $21,985,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of ALLETE by 6,668.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 239,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,941,000 after purchasing an additional 235,670 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of ALLETE by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,579,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $402,402,000 after purchasing an additional 176,709 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of ALLETE by 59.1% in the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 441,564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,532,000 after purchasing an additional 164,064 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in shares of ALLETE in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,161,000. 76.55% of the stock is currently 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.