Cibc World Markets Corp Makes New $352,000 Investment in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $352,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALE. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 7,739 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 28.3% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 129,635 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,321,000 after acquiring an additional 28,612 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in ALLETE by 100.0% in the third quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 80,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,135,000 after acquiring an additional 40,000 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in ALLETE by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,459,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $157,888,000 after purchasing an additional 13,335 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of ALLETE in the 4th quarter worth approximately $380,000. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ALLETE Price Performance

ALLETE stock opened at $65.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19 and a beta of 0.74. ALLETE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.66 and a 52-week high of $65.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $65.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.84.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of ALLETE in a research report 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.