ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Shares Sold by Covestor Ltd

Covestor Ltd decreased its stake in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 36.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,007 shares during the quarter. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $112,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in ALLETE by 955.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 897,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,967,000 after buying an additional 812,548 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ALLETE in the second quarter worth approximately $21,985,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of ALLETE by 6,668.6% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 239,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,941,000 after purchasing an additional 235,670 shares in the last quarter. Water Island Capital LLC acquired a new position in ALLETE in the 2nd quarter valued at $11,583,000. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its stake in ALLETE by 59.1% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 441,564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,532,000 after purchasing an additional 164,064 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

ALLETE Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE ALE opened at $65.09 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. ALLETE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.14 and a 52 week high of $65.86. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.51. The firm has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 20.86 and a beta of 0.80.

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

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.705 dividend. This represents a $2.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.33%. This is a positive change from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ALE. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of ALLETE in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Sidoti upgraded shares of ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ALLETE has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.00.

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.