Inspire Investing LLC Sells 4,919 Shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Inspire Investing LLC cut its position in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 44.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,919 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in ALLETE by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,197 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,309,000 after buying an additional 1,269 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 19,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,271,000 after acquiring an additional 2,339 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 65,056 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,190,000 after acquiring an additional 5,799 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in ALLETE in the 3rd quarter valued at $282,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in ALLETE by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,395,362 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $89,584,000 after purchasing an additional 21,850 shares during the last quarter. 76.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ALE. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of ALLETE in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Sidoti raised shares of ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th.

ALLETE Stock Down 0.2 %

ALE stock opened at $65.58 on Friday. ALLETE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.86 and a fifty-two week high of $65.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.02 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $64.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.34.

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

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.