Allete (NYSE:ALE) Lowered to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Allete (NYSE:ALE) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Allete in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Allete Stock Performance

Shares of ALE opened at $67.34 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.24 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50-day moving average of $65.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.32. Allete has a 12-month low of $62.38 and a 12-month high of $67.51.

Allete (NYSE:ALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $360.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $425.30 million. Allete had a net margin of 11.98% and a return on equity of 5.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Allete

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Allete by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Cannon Global Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Allete by 152.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cannon Global Investment Management LLC now owns 22,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,454,000 after buying an additional 13,700 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Allete by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 188,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,384,000 after acquiring an additional 3,585 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Allete by 56.6% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 9,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,000 after acquiring an additional 3,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Allete by 37.8% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 40,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,641,000 after acquiring an additional 11,019 shares during the last quarter. 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.