Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 1,326 Shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,289 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $1,120,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of ALLETE during the fourth quarter worth $368,000. Yorktown Management & Research Co Inc bought a new position in ALLETE in the fourth quarter valued at $305,000. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in ALLETE in the fourth quarter valued at $5,378,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in ALLETE by 61.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in ALLETE by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

ALLETE Stock Down 0.0 %

ALLETE stock opened at $65.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.11 and a beta of 0.80. ALLETE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.86 and a 1-year high of $65.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.46%. This is a boost from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.19%.

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.