ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its stake in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 29.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 19,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,352 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in ALLETE were worth $1,267,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Royce & Associates LP bought a new stake in ALLETE in the third quarter valued at about $202,000. Wolverine Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of ALLETE by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 44,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,865,000 after acquiring an additional 10,302 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 31,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,013,000 after acquiring an additional 1,484 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ALLETE during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ALLETE during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,109,000. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALE has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of ALLETE in a report on Sunday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Sidoti raised shares of ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.00.

ALLETE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALE opened at $64.88 on Monday. ALLETE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $54.90 and a 1-year high of $65.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $64.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79 and a beta of 0.80.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.21). ALLETE had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The firm had revenue of $407.20 million for the quarter. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.705 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.35%. This is a positive change from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.38%.

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.