ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Sidoti

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) was upgraded by analysts at Sidoti from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Zacks.com reports.

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on ALLETE in a report on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.00.

ALLETE Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of ALLETE stock opened at $64.12 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $63.87 and a 200-day moving average of $62.38. ALLETE has a 52-week low of $49.29 and a 52-week high of $65.86. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 15.41 and a beta of 0.80.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $354.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ALLETE

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its stake in shares of ALLETE by 1.3% in the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 18,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in ALLETE by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,143 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in shares of ALLETE by 2.9% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $844,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 139.4% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of ALLETE by 12.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 420 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.