ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) saw a significant growth in short interest in 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 daily volume of 293,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

ALLETE Stock Performance

ALLETE stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $65.71. 572,171 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 304,401. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $64.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.24. The company has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of 21.06 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. ALLETE has a one year low of $55.86 and a one year high of $65.86.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $407.20 million for the quarter. ALLETE had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 5.99%. ALLETE’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.49 EPS.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.705 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.29%. This is a boost from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.38%.

Institutional Trading of ALLETE

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in ALLETE by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,197 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 1,269 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of ALLETE by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 19,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,271,000 after acquiring an additional 2,339 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 9.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 65,056 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,190,000 after acquiring an additional 5,799 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of ALLETE in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $282,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in ALLETE by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,395,362 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $89,584,000 after purchasing an additional 21,850 shares during the period. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by 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.