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

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) in a report released on Friday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Separately, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of ALLETE from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $62.00.

ALLETE Stock Performance

Shares of ALE opened at $64.56 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $63.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.57. ALLETE has a 52 week low of $49.29 and a 52 week high of $65.86. The company has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of 15.52 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.66.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by ($0.12). ALLETE had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.21%. The company had revenue of $403.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $581.26 million. Research analysts expect that ALLETE will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ALLETE Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.7005 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. ALLETE’s payout ratio is 67.79%.

Institutional Trading of ALLETE

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in ALLETE by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 32,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,982,000 after purchasing an additional 3,879 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in ALLETE by 170.9% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 12,943 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $792,000 after purchasing an additional 8,166 shares during the last quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in ALLETE during the 4th quarter valued at $407,000. Ledge Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in ALLETE during the 4th quarter valued at $225,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in ALLETE during the 4th quarter valued at $11,710,000. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.