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

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

ALLETE Stock Down 0.0 %

ALE opened at $63.85 on Friday. ALLETE has a twelve month low of $49.29 and a twelve month high of $65.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $63.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35 and a beta of 0.80.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.30). ALLETE had a net margin of 14.36% and a return on equity of 7.07%. The company had revenue of $354.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis.

ALLETE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.7005 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its holdings in ALLETE by 1.3% in the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 18,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in ALLETE by 2.2% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 2.9% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $844,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 139.4% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in ALLETE during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. 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.