Tidal Investments LLC Sells 656 Shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Tidal Investments LLC lessened its stake in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 656 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ALE. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 16,844 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in ALLETE by 1.8% in the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,215,000 after buying an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in ALLETE by 2.2% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,143 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,007,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 31.0% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of ALLETE by 14.8% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

ALLETE Stock Performance

ALE stock opened at $64.37 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.94. ALLETE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.86 and a fifty-two week 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63 and a beta of 0.81.

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

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.705 dividend. This represents a $2.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This is a positive change from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com started coverage on ALLETE in a report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Sidoti upgraded ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.00.

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.