ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

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

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

ALLETE Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of ALE stock opened at $64.05 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $63.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 20.53 and a beta of 0.80. ALLETE has a 12-month low of $53.14 and a 12-month high of $65.86.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last released its quarterly 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). ALLETE had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The business had revenue of $407.20 million during the quarter. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.705 per share. This is an increase from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. ALLETE’s payout ratio is currently 90.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of ALLETE by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,615,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $394,548,000 after buying an additional 35,992 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of ALLETE by 5.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 964,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,118,000 after purchasing an additional 52,499 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ALLETE by 955.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 897,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,967,000 after purchasing an additional 812,548 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of ALLETE by 59.1% in the second 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 last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ALLETE by 9.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 385,750 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,052,000 after purchasing an additional 34,810 shares during the last quarter. 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.