ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Shares Bought by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. lifted its position in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in ALLETE by 198.9% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 29,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,891,000 after purchasing an additional 19,422 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in shares of ALLETE in the 4th quarter worth about $352,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its stake in ALLETE by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 46,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,016,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in ALLETE by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 113,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,361,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in ALLETE by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 6,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $409,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

ALLETE Stock Down 0.4 %

ALE opened at $65.47 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.86. ALLETE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.66 and a 52 week high of $65.99. 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 EPS 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.73 dividend. This is a boost from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.46%. ALLETE’s payout ratio is 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.