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

ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) was the target of a large increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 997,700 shares, an increase of 20.8% from the November 15th total of 825,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 257,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ALLETE

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ALLETE during the third quarter worth $38,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of ALLETE by 261.0% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 783 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of ALLETE during the 2nd quarter valued at about $74,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ALLETE in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in ALLETE in the second quarter worth approximately $158,000. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ALLETE Stock Performance

Shares of ALLETE stock opened at $64.64 on Monday. ALLETE has a 12 month low of $55.86 and a 12 month high of $65.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of 20.72 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.86.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last announced 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 business had revenue of $407.20 million for the quarter. ALLETE had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 11.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.49 EPS.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.705 dividend. This is an increase from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.36%. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com began coverage on ALLETE in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Sidoti upgraded ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.00.

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.