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. 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 145,000 retail customers and 15 non-affiliated municipal customers. It also owns and maintains electric transmission assets in Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois. In addition, the company focuses on developing, acquiring, and operating clean and renewable energy projects; and owns and operates approximately 1,000 megawatts of wind energy generation facility. Further, it is involved in the coal mining operations in North Dakota; and real estate investment activities in Florida. The company owns and operates 158 substations with a total capacity of 10,066 megavolt amperes. It serves taconite mining, paper, pulp and secondary wood products, pipeline, and other industries. The company was formerly known as Minnesota Power, Inc. and changed its name to ALLETE, Inc. in May 2001. ALLETE, Inc. was incorporated in 1906 and is headquartered in Duluth, Minnesota.
ALLETE Trading Up 2.9 %
ALE Stock traded up $1.76 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $63.31. The stock had a trading volume of 231,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 276,867. The firm has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a PE ratio of 17.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. ALLETE has a 12-month low of $56.55 and a 12-month high of $71.68. The company's 50-day moving average price is $59.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.79.
ALLETE (NYSE:ALE - Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.14. ALLETE had a net margin of 12.89% and a return on equity of 6.29%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that ALLETE will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
ALLETE Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 15th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 12th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. ALLETE's payout ratio is currently 71.82%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded ALLETE from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America assumed coverage on ALLETE in a research report on Wednesday, May 25th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $63.00 price objective for the company.