StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on ALLETE (NYSE:ALE)

Equities researchers at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) in a note issued to investors on Saturday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

ALLETE Price Performance

Shares of ALE opened at $64.36 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $63.89 and its 200-day moving average is $62.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 15.47 and a beta of 0.80. ALLETE has a fifty-two week low of $49.29 and a fifty-two week high of $65.86.

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). ALLETE had a net margin of 14.36% and a return on equity of 7.07%. The company had revenue of $354.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ALLETE

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALE. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of ALLETE by 139.4% in 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 period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ALLETE by 4,157.1% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in ALLETE in the second quarter valued at about $74,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in ALLETE in the second quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC bought a new position in ALLETE in the fourth quarter valued at about $92,000. Institutional investors 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.