ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Get Free Report) saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . 614,899 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 109% from the previous session's volume of 293,597 shares.The stock last traded at $63.53 and had previously closed at $64.27.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on ALE. Guggenheim raised shares of ALLETE from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Sidoti cut shares of ALLETE from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $64.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of ALLETE from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ALLETE has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $58.60.

ALLETE Stock Performance

The company's 50-day moving average price is $58.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a PE ratio of 14.65 and a beta of 0.75.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). ALLETE had a return on equity of 7.31% and a net margin of 13.15%. The company had revenue of $402.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $425.21 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that ALLETE, Inc. will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ALLETE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.705 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.48%. ALLETE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in ALLETE during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in ALLETE by 131.2% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 467 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in ALLETE by 85.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 566 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management lifted 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 acquiring an additional 713 shares during the period. 76.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.