StockNews.com Begins Coverage on ALLETE (NYSE:ALE)

Investment analysts at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) in a report issued on Tuesday. The firm set 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 note on Monday, September 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, ALLETE currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.00.

ALLETE Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ALE opened at $64.37 on Tuesday. ALLETE has a 1-year low of $52.14 and a 1-year high of $65.86. The company’s fifty day moving average is $63.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.88. 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 capitalization of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.47 and a beta of 0.80.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $354.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $547.24 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. ALLETE’s revenue was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,615,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $394,548,000 after acquiring an additional 35,992 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted 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 purchasing an additional 52,499 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in ALLETE by 955.1% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 897,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,967,000 after purchasing an additional 812,548 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its position in shares of ALLETE by 59.1% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 441,564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,532,000 after purchasing an additional 164,064 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of ALLETE by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 385,750 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,052,000 after buying an additional 34,810 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.