Short Interest in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Declines By 10.8%

ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 821,100 shares, a decline of 10.8% from the October 15th total of 920,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 254,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days.

ALLETE Price Performance

Shares of ALLETE stock traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $64.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 293,818 shares, compared to its average volume of 246,837. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $64.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.61. ALLETE has a 12-month low of $54.71 and a 12-month high of $65.86. The company has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.45.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $407.20 million during the quarter. ALLETE had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 11.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.49 EPS.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.705 dividend. This is an increase from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. ALLETE’s payout ratio is currently 90.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Sidoti upgraded ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on ALLETE in a research report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ALLETE

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new stake in ALLETE during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in ALLETE by 261.0% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 783 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in ALLETE by 4,157.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in ALLETE during the second quarter worth approximately $74,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in ALLETE during the second quarter worth approximately $75,000. 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.