Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $1.47 Million in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 22,615 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,465,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 11,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $764,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 16,844 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,081,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 31.0% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 1,563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

ALLETE Stock Down 0.2 %

ALLETE stock opened at $65.36 on Friday. ALLETE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.66 and a fifty-two 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $65.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.64. The company has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 21.08 and a beta of 0.80.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.15). ALLETE had a net margin of 11.72% and a return on equity of 5.97%.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.