ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Short Interest Update

ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,070,000 shares, a growth of 7.8% from the December 31st total of 992,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 293,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ALLETE

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALE. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new stake in ALLETE in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in ALLETE by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in ALLETE by 261.0% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 783 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in ALLETE during the second quarter valued at $74,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in ALLETE by 61.7% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on ALLETE in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

ALLETE Price Performance

Shares of ALLETE stock traded down $0.05 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $65.60. 59,081 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 395,214. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $65.02 and its 200-day moving average is $64.43. ALLETE has a 52 week low of $55.86 and a 52 week high of $65.95.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.45%. This is a positive change from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.38%.

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.