ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) Sets New 1-Year High at $65.86

ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $65.86 and last traded at $63.51, with a volume of 468932 shares. The stock had previously closed at $60.84.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ALE shares. Sidoti cut shares of ALLETE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $64.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of ALLETE from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded shares of ALLETE from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $58.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ALLETE currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.60.

ALLETE Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $58.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.11 and a beta of 0.75.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). ALLETE had a return on equity of 7.31% and a net margin of 13.15%. The company had revenue of $402.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $425.21 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ALLETE, Inc. will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

ALLETE Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.705 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.39%. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ALLETE

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALE. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of ALLETE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in ALLETE by 131.2% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in ALLETE by 85.6% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in ALLETE by 139.4% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 381.3% in the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.