Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Invests $671,000 in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 10,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $671,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in ALLETE by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in ALLETE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $73,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in ALLETE by 61.7% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alerus Financial NA bought a new stake in shares of ALLETE in the 4th quarter worth $202,000. 76.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on ALLETE in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

ALLETE Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of ALLETE stock opened at $64.62 on Friday. ALLETE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $56.66 and a twelve month high of $65.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company’s 50 day moving average is $65.43 and its 200 day moving average is $64.97. The company has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85 and a beta of 0.69.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.15). ALLETE had a net margin of 11.72% and a return on equity of 5.97%.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. This is an increase from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. ALLETE’s payout ratio is currently 94.19%.

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.