ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Short Interest Up 7.8% in January

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of ALLETE in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

ALLETE Stock Performance

NYSE ALE opened at $65.60 on Tuesday. ALLETE has a 1 year low of $55.86 and a 1 year high of $65.95. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.43. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02 and a beta of 0.80.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.73 dividend. This is a boost from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is 90.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ALLETE

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ALE. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in ALLETE in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of ALLETE by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of ALLETE by 261.0% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 783 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in ALLETE in the second quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of ALLETE by 61.7% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 928 shares during the period. 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.