Alerus Financial NA Buys Shares of 3,111 ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Alerus Financial NA purchased a new position in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,111 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in ALLETE by 88.5% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 9,763 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $627,000 after buying an additional 4,584 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in ALLETE by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 766,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,192,000 after purchasing an additional 7,739 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in ALLETE by 28.3% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 129,635 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,321,000 after purchasing an additional 28,612 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of ALLETE by 1.7% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 27,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,738,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of ALLETE by 1.9% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 16,844 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,081,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the period. 76.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on ALLETE in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “hold” rating for the company.

ALLETE Stock Performance

Shares of ALE stock opened at $65.68 on Friday. ALLETE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.66 and a 52 week high of $65.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $65.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.88. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.19 and a beta of 0.74.

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 the consensus estimate 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This is a boost from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.19%.

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.