ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) Now Covered by StockNews.com

Equities researchers at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) in a report released on Wednesday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Separately, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of ALLETE from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.00.

ALLETE Price Performance

Shares of ALE opened at $63.78 on Wednesday. ALLETE has a fifty-two week low of $49.29 and a fifty-two week high of $65.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $62.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.41. The company has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.33 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.09 by ($0.12). ALLETE had a return on equity of 7.21% and a net margin of 13.94%. The business had revenue of $403.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $581.26 million. On average, research analysts forecast that ALLETE will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ALLETE

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Graham Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 190.6% during the third quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 24,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,308,000 after buying an additional 16,246 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 29.7% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 564,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,786,000 after buying an additional 129,104 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 2.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 83,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,384,000 after buying an additional 2,108 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 29.5% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 41,579 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,196,000 after buying an additional 9,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,402,795 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $338,068,000 after buying an additional 130,113 shares in the last quarter. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.