ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of ALLETE (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the utilities provider's stock.

Separately, Sidoti upgraded ALLETE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.00.

ALLETE Price Performance

NYSE:ALE traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $64.13. 224,248 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 363,300. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 15.42 and a beta of 0.80. ALLETE has a twelve month low of $52.14 and a twelve month high of $65.86. The stock's 50-day moving average is $63.88 and its 200-day moving average is $62.91.

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

ALLETE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $0.7005 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. ALLETE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ALLETE

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALE. UMB Bank n.a. boosted 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 buying an additional 783 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted 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 valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of ALLETE in the second quarter valued at about $74,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in ALLETE during the second quarter worth about $75,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in ALLETE by 1,118.1% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,156 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,979 shares during the period. 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.