Arizona State Retirement System Boosts Stake in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,143 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $1,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ALE. Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 18,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in ALLETE by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in shares of ALLETE by 2.9% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $844,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 139.4% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of ALLETE during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

ALLETE Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of ALLETE stock opened at $64.06 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $63.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.75. ALLETE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.29 and a 52-week high of $65.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40 and a beta of 0.80.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.30). The firm had revenue of $354.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $547.24 million. ALLETE had a net margin of 14.36% and a return on equity of 7.07%. ALLETE’s revenue was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS.

ALLETE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.7005 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.37%. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of ALLETE in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.00.

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.