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

Investment analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) in a report issued on Sunday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

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

ALLETE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALE opened at $64.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $64.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.73. ALLETE has a 1-year low of $54.90 and a 1-year high of $65.86.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.49 earnings per share.

Institutional Trading of ALLETE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in shares of ALLETE by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 16,844 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in ALLETE by 1.8% in the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 2.2% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,143 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its position in shares of ALLETE by 31.0% during the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 1,563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during 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.