Allete (NYSE:ALE) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Shares of Allete, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) saw strong trading volume on Thursday . 1,724,252 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 233% from the previous session’s volume of 517,050 shares.The stock last traded at $67.8550 and had previously closed at $67.71.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Allete from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Allete in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Allete Trading Down 0.1%

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a PE ratio of 23.82 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $67.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.81.

Allete (NYSE:ALE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by ($0.34). Allete had a net margin of 11.04% and a return on equity of 5.08%. The firm had revenue of $375.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $434.90 million.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Allete

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ALE. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Allete by 27.8% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its stake in shares of Allete by 67.3% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 445 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Allete by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 16,642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Allete by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 43,564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,791,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Allete by 3.1% in the third quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 7,862 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $522,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.