International Assets Investment Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 19,143 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,710,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 1.4% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $862,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of ALLETE by 85.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 131.2% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of ALLETE by 18.8% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 1.0% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 33,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,789,000 after buying an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ALE. Guggenheim raised shares of ALLETE from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Sidoti cut shares of ALLETE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $64.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on ALLETE from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.60.

ALLETE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALE opened at $64.27 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $58.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.30. ALLETE, Inc. has a one year low of $49.29 and a one year high of $65.86.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). ALLETE had a return on equity of 7.31% and a net margin of 13.15%. The business had revenue of $402.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $425.21 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. ALLETE’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that ALLETE, Inc. will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

ALLETE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.705 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.39%. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.58%.

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.