AlphaQuest LLC Has $369,000 Stock Position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

AlphaQuest LLC reduced its stake in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 83.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,691 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 28,676 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new position in ALLETE in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in ALLETE by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 1,563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of ALLETE by 61.7% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 928 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

ALLETE Stock Up 0.0 %

ALLETE stock opened at $65.33 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.07 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.71.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is 94.19%.

ALLETE Company 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.