Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 54,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,522,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in ALLETE by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew 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 purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in ALLETE by 61.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares during the period. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new stake in ALLETE during the third quarter worth about $266,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

ALLETE Stock Performance

NYSE:ALE opened at $65.69 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.19 and a beta of 0.74. 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.45%. This is a boost from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. ALLETE’s payout ratio is 94.19%.

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.