ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Shares Acquired by Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 36.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,045 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $1,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ALE. Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its stake in ALLETE by 1.3% during the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 18,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,099,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its holdings in ALLETE by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in ALLETE by 131.2% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in ALLETE by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 23,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of ALLETE by 139.4% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. 76.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ALLETE Stock Performance

Shares of ALLETE stock opened at $62.35 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.66. ALLETE, Inc. has a one year low of $49.29 and a one year high of $65.86. The company has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of 14.99 and a beta of 0.79.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.09 by ($0.12). ALLETE had a return on equity of 7.21% and a net margin of 13.94%. The firm had revenue of $403.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $581.26 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that ALLETE, Inc. will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ALLETE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.705 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.52%. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on ALE. Mizuho boosted their price objective on ALLETE from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of ALLETE in a research report on Monday, June 24th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.