ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) Now Covered by StockNews.com

Equities researchers at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Separately, Sidoti raised ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Four 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.00.

ALLETE Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of ALE opened at $64.36 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.45. ALLETE has a 1 year low of $55.86 and a 1 year high of $65.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63 and a beta of 0.81.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $407.20 million during the quarter. ALLETE had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.49 earnings per share.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ALLETE

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ALE. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in ALLETE in the third quarter valued at $38,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of ALLETE by 261.0% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 783 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in ALLETE during the second quarter worth approximately $74,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in ALLETE in the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in ALLETE in the second quarter valued at approximately $158,000. 76.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ALLETE Company Profile

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.