AdvisorNet Financial Inc Has $52,000 Holdings in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

AdvisorNet Financial Inc lessened its stake in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 41.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 573 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $52,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 19,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,271,000 after buying an additional 2,339 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in ALLETE by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 65,056 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,190,000 after purchasing an additional 5,799 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of ALLETE during the 3rd quarter worth about $282,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,395,362 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $89,584,000 after buying an additional 21,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 187.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 100,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,425,000 after purchasing an additional 65,222 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on ALE shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of ALLETE in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Sidoti upgraded shares of ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.33.

ALLETE Stock Performance

NYSE:ALE opened at $65.71 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $64.82 and its 200 day moving average is $64.22. ALLETE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.86 and a 52-week high of $65.86. The firm has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.06 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.45.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last announced its 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). The company had revenue of $407.20 million for the quarter. ALLETE had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 5.99%. ALLETE’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.705 per share. This is an increase from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. ALLETE’s payout ratio is presently 90.38%.

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.