Intech Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 88.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,763 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,584 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $627,000 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 added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in ALLETE by 261.0% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 783 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ALLETE by 4,157.1% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in ALLETE during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $74,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in ALLETE in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ALLETE during the second quarter valued at approximately $158,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

ALLETE Price Performance

Shares of ALE opened at $64.88 on Friday. ALLETE, Inc. has a one year low of $54.90 and a one year high of $65.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $64.42 and its 200-day moving average is $63.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79 and a beta of 0.80.

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

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.705 dividend. This is an increase from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.35%. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com began coverage on ALLETE in a research note on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Sidoti upgraded shares of ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.00.

ALLETE 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.