GAMMA Investing LLC Sells 161 Shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

GAMMA Investing LLC decreased its stake in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 8.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,792 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 161 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALE. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 86,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,263,000 after buying an additional 3,015 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in ALLETE by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,579,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $402,402,000 after acquiring an additional 176,709 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its position in ALLETE by 148.2% in the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 17,041 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 10,175 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of ALLETE by 22.9% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its position in shares of ALLETE by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 18,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

ALLETE Price Performance

NYSE ALE opened at $64.34 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. ALLETE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.14 and a 12 month high of $65.86. The stock has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.47 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s 50 day moving average is $63.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.71.

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

ALLETE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.7005 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Sidoti upgraded shares of ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of ALLETE in a research report on Monday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ALLETE has an average 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.