ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Short Interest Update

ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,070,000 shares, a growth of 7.8% from the December 15th total of 992,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 293,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days.

ALLETE Stock Performance

ALLETE stock traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $65.71. 572,171 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 304,401. ALLETE has a 12 month low of $55.86 and a 12 month high of $65.86. The firm has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.06 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $64.82 and a 200 day moving average of $64.24.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.21). The firm 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 company’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.49 EPS.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.705 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This is a positive change from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.29%. ALLETE’s payout ratio is presently 90.38%.

Institutional Trading of ALLETE

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new stake in ALLETE in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 261.0% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 783 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in ALLETE during the second quarter worth about $74,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in ALLETE by 14.8% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP bought a new position in ALLETE during the third quarter valued at about $202,000. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ALE. Sidoti upgraded ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of ALLETE in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.33.

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.