ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

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

ALLETE Trading Down 0.0 %

ALE stock opened at $63.85 on Friday. ALLETE has a one year low of $49.29 and a one year high of $65.86. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $63.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $354.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.24 million. ALLETE had a net margin of 14.36% and a return on equity of 7.07%. The firm’s revenue was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share.

ALLETE Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.7005 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is 67.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ALLETE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its holdings in ALLETE by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 18,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 2.2% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,143 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in ALLETE by 2.9% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $844,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in ALLETE by 139.4% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in ALLETE in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

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.