Ieq Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 5,361 ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $347,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in ALLETE by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 184,915 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,982,000 after purchasing an additional 4,576 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its position in shares of ALLETE by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 32,525 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 54,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,499,000 after buying an additional 4,735 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of ALLETE by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 209,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,578,000 after buying an additional 7,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in shares of ALLETE in the fourth quarter worth $3,201,000. 76.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ALLETE Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of ALLETE stock opened at $65.53 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $65.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.59. ALLETE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.86 and a fifty-two week high of $65.99. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.14 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.73 dividend. 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 4.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

ALLETE 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.