ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Short Interest Up 20.8% in November

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

ALLETE Price Performance

Shares of ALE traded up $0.09 on Friday, hitting $64.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 211,466 shares, compared to its average volume of 350,202. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.84. ALLETE has a fifty-two week low of $55.86 and a fifty-two week high of $65.86. The company has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of 20.72 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.21). ALLETE had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The business had revenue of $407.20 million during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.49 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on ALE. Sidoti raised shares of ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com started coverage on ALLETE in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ALLETE presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ALLETE

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new position in shares of ALLETE in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 783 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of ALLETE during the 2nd quarter valued at $74,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of ALLETE in the 2nd quarter valued at $75,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of ALLETE in the 2nd quarter worth $158,000. 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.