ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Short Interest Up 7.8% in December

ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,070,000 shares, an increase of 7.8% from the December 15th total of 992,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 293,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on ALE shares. Sidoti raised ALLETE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com began coverage on ALLETE in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, ALLETE currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $61.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ALLETE

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ALE. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of ALLETE by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,459,692 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $157,888,000 after purchasing an additional 13,335 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in ALLETE by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,395,362 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $89,584,000 after buying an additional 21,850 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in ALLETE by 5.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 964,193 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $60,118,000 after buying an additional 52,499 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in ALLETE by 955.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 897,622 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $55,967,000 after buying an additional 812,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 1.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 766,343 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $49,192,000 after acquiring an additional 7,739 shares during the period. 76.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ALLETE Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of ALLETE stock traded up $0.10 on Friday, hitting $65.71. 572,171 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 304,401. ALLETE has a 52-week low of $55.86 and a 52-week high of $65.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.06 and a beta of 0.80. The firm's 50-day moving average is $64.82 and its 200 day moving average is $64.22.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $407.20 million for the quarter. ALLETE had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 11.49%. The business's revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.49 earnings per share.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.705 dividend. This is a positive change from ALLETE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.29%. ALLETE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.38%.

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.

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