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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on ALE. StockNews.com began coverage on ALLETE in a research report on Friday. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Sidoti upgraded ALLETE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Four equities research 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.00.

ALLETE Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:ALE traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $64.36. 293,818 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 246,837. The business's 50-day moving average price is $64.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.63 and a beta of 0.80. ALLETE has a 1 year low of $54.71 and a 1 year high of $65.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE - Get Free Report) 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 business 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.49 earnings per share.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.705 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. This is a positive change from ALLETE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. ALLETE's payout ratio is presently 90.38%.

Institutional Trading of ALLETE

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 59.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 30,441 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,816,000 after acquiring an additional 11,321 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in ALLETE by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,615,496 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $394,548,000 after purchasing an additional 35,992 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in ALLETE by 147.1% during the second quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 84,607 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,275,000 after purchasing an additional 50,361 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in ALLETE during the second quarter valued at about $3,572,000. Finally, Alpine Associates Management Inc. bought a new stake in ALLETE during the second quarter valued at about $21,985,000. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company's stock.

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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