ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 821,100 shares, a decline of 10.8% from the October 15th total of 920,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 254,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ALLETE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of ALLETE during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of 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 period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in ALLETE by 4,157.1% in the first 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 stake in ALLETE in the second quarter worth about $74,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in ALLETE in the second quarter worth about $75,000. 76.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ALLETE Price Performance

NYSE:ALE traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $64.40. The company had a trading volume of 30,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 352,260. ALLETE has a 52-week low of $54.71 and a 52-week high of $65.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $64.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.64. The company has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $407.20 million during the quarter. ALLETE had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 11.49%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.49 earnings per share.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.705 per share. This represents a $2.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. This is an increase from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is 90.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Sidoti raised shares of ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of ALLETE in a research note on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ALLETE presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.00.

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.