ALLETE (ALE) to Release Earnings on Wednesday

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE - Get Free Report) is scheduled to be posting its quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Wednesday, October 30th.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.30). ALLETE had a return on equity of 7.07% and a net margin of 14.36%. The firm had revenue of $354.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $547.24 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. ALLETE's revenue was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

ALLETE Price Performance

ALE stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $64.25. 345,720 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 363,214. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $63.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42 and a beta of 0.80. ALLETE has a fifty-two week low of $52.30 and a fifty-two week high of $65.86.

ALLETE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.7005 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. ALLETE's dividend payout ratio is currently 67.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ALE. Sidoti upgraded shares of ALLETE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of ALLETE in a research note on Tuesday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.00.

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.