OLD Republic International Corp Trims Stock Position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

OLD Republic International Corp decreased its stake in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 29.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 383,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 158,000 shares during the quarter. OLD Republic International Corp’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $24,825,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in ALLETE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $380,000. Olympiad Research LP lifted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Olympiad Research LP now owns 31,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,015,000 after purchasing an additional 3,819 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in ALLETE during the fourth quarter worth $347,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in ALLETE by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 184,915 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,982,000 after buying an additional 4,576 shares during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in ALLETE by 3.7% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ALLETE Stock Down 0.0 %

ALLETE stock opened at $65.44 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a PE ratio of 21.11 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.56. ALLETE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.86 and a 12 month high of $65.99.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 5.97% and a net margin of 11.72%.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.46%. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com initiated 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.