Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 117,160 Shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 81.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 117,160 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $1,746,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in ALLETE in the third quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Royce & Associates LP bought a new stake in shares of ALLETE in the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of ALLETE by 249.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 34,367 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after acquiring an additional 24,523 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in ALLETE by 14.8% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Associates Management Inc. boosted its stake in ALLETE by 12.9% during the third quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 398,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,551,000 after acquiring an additional 45,447 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

ALLETE Stock Down 0.4 %

ALE stock opened at $65.39 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.77. The company has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.09 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.08. ALLETE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.66 and a fifty-two week high of $65.99.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.47%. This is a positive change from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

About ALLETE

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.