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

Stock analysts at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) in a report released on Thursday. The firm set a “hold” rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of ALLETE from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of ALLETE from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.40.

ALLETE Trading Up 0.6 %

ALE opened at $62.92 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 0.96. ALLETE has a fifty-two week low of $49.29 and a fifty-two week high of $65.86. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $60.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13 and a beta of 0.75.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). ALLETE had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.21%. The company had revenue of $402.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $425.21 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that ALLETE will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ALLETE

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in ALLETE by 85.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 261,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,833,000 after purchasing an additional 22,209 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in ALLETE by 228.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 237,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,559,000 after purchasing an additional 165,462 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in ALLETE during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,334,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in ALLETE by 1.4% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $862,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

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.