State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 19,716 Shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its stake in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 39.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,877 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 19,716 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned 0.05% of ALLETE worth $1,863,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ALLETE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of ALLETE by 139.4% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of ALLETE by 4,157.1% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ALLETE during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of ALLETE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $92,000. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

ALLETE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALE opened at $63.85 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $63.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.06. ALLETE, Inc. has a one year low of $49.29 and a one year high of $65.86. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35 and a beta of 0.80.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $354.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $547.24 million. ALLETE had a return on equity of 7.07% and a net margin of 14.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share.

ALLETE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.7005 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.39%. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on ALLETE in a research note on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, ALLETE has an average 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.