ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) was the target of a large decline in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,090,000 shares, a decline of 9.2% from the July 15th total of 1,200,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 494,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho increased their price target on ALLETE from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of ALLETE in a research note on Sunday, August 11th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, ALLETE presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.00.

ALLETE Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE ALE traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $63.48. The stock had a trading volume of 380,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 394,680. ALLETE has a 52-week low of $49.29 and a 52-week high of $65.86. The firm has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $63.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

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

ALLETE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.7005 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. ALLETE’s payout ratio is 67.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ALLETE

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ALE. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in ALLETE in the first quarter worth approximately $854,000. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of ALLETE by 59.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 30,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,816,000 after acquiring an additional 11,321 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of ALLETE by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 888,731 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,355,000 after acquiring an additional 24,690 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 167.1% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 34,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,071,000 after purchasing an additional 21,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in ALLETE during the fourth quarter valued at about $801,000. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

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.