ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 997,700 shares, an increase of 20.8% from the November 15th total of 825,800 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 257,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Institutional Trading of ALLETE

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in ALLETE by 1.9% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 16,844 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,081,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in ALLETE by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised 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 valued at $1,007,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its holdings 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 valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in ALLETE by 14.8% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

ALLETE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALE opened at $64.64 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. ALLETE has a fifty-two week low of $55.86 and a fifty-two week high of $65.86. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $64.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.86. The firm has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of 20.72 and a beta of 0.81.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.49 earnings per share.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.705 dividend. This represents a $2.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.36%. This is an increase from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. ALLETE’s payout ratio is 90.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sidoti raised shares of ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of ALLETE in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ALLETE presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.00.

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.