Allete (NYSE:ALE) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Shares of Allete, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $67.64 and last traded at $67.6140, with a volume of 348731 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $67.58.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Allete in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Allete from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy”.

Allete Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.63. The stock has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.34 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Allete (NYSE:ALE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.80 by ($0.34). Allete had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 5.71%. The company had revenue of $375.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $434.90 million.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Allete

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Allete by 529.6% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 975,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,791,000 after buying an additional 820,782 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Allete during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,127,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Allete in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,913,000. AQR Arbitrage LLC increased its stake in Allete by 29.1% in the second quarter. AQR Arbitrage LLC now owns 1,527,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $97,695,000 after acquiring an additional 344,241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in Allete by 43.2% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 924,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $59,206,000 after purchasing an additional 278,716 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

Allete Company Profile

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.