ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Shares Sold by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its stake in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 65,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 525 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 0.11% of ALLETE worth $4,254,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALE. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position 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 valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. 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 worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. Alerus Financial NA purchased a new stake in shares of ALLETE during the fourth quarter worth $202,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of ALLETE in the third quarter valued at about $282,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

ALLETE Stock Performance

NYSE ALE opened at $64.35 on Friday. ALLETE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.66 and a fifty-two week high of $65.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.76 and a beta of 0.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $65.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.08.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.54%. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of ALLETE in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “hold” rating for the company.

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.