ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.21), Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $407.20 million during the quarter. ALLETE had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.49 EPS.

ALLETE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALE traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $64.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 207,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 358,500. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $63.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.17. ALLETE has a one year low of $53.14 and a one year high of $65.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54 and a beta of 0.80.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.705 dividend. This represents a $2.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.40%. This is a boost from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. ALLETE’s payout ratio is presently 90.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Sidoti upgraded shares of ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of ALLETE in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.00.

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.