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

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

Separately, Sidoti raised shares of ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Four investment 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.00.

ALLETE Stock Up 0.3 %

ALLETE stock opened at $64.08 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 20.54 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $63.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.17. ALLETE has a 1-year low of $53.14 and a 1-year high of $65.86.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $354.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $547.24 million. ALLETE had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 11.49%. ALLETE’s revenue was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.705 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 4.40%. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is 90.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 261.0% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 783 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in ALLETE by 4,157.1% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in ALLETE during the 2nd quarter worth $74,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in ALLETE in the second quarter valued at $75,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 1,118.1% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,156 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 1,979 shares during the last quarter. 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.