ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Receives $58.60 Consensus PT from Brokerages

ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) has received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $58.60.

ALE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on ALLETE from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Guggenheim raised ALLETE from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Sidoti lowered ALLETE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $64.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ALLETE

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALE. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of ALLETE in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of ALLETE by 131.2% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of ALLETE by 85.6% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in ALLETE by 139.4% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management raised its position in ALLETE by 381.3% during the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 713 shares during the last quarter. 76.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ALLETE Price Performance

NYSE ALE opened at $62.70 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a PE ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.47. ALLETE has a 52 week low of $49.29 and a 52 week high of $65.86.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $402.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $425.21 million. ALLETE had a net margin of 13.15% and a return on equity of 7.31%. The company’s revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. Research analysts predict that ALLETE will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

ALLETE Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.705 per share. This represents a $2.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.50%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.58%.

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.