ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.21), Briefing.com reports. ALLETE had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The business had revenue of $407.20 million for the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.49 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis.

ALLETE Stock Performance

ALE stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $64.05. The stock had a trading volume of 207,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 358,500. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 20.54 and a beta of 0.80. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.17. ALLETE has a 52-week low of $53.14 and a 52-week high of $65.86.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.705 dividend. This is a positive change from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.40%. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Sidoti upgraded ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on ALLETE in a report on Wednesday. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ALLETE presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.