Proficio Capital Partners LLC Makes New Investment in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 22,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,465,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of ALLETE during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of ALLETE by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of ALLETE by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of ALLETE by 31.0% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 1,563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of ALLETE by 61.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 928 shares during the period. 76.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

ALLETE Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE ALE opened at $65.73 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.66 and a 52 week high of $65.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $65.53 and its 200 day moving average is $64.79. The company has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.20 and a beta of 0.74.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 EPS 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 business also recently declared 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 represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.44%. This is a boost from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. ALLETE’s payout ratio is 94.19%.

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.