ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 184,915 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,576 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.32% of ALLETE worth $11,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ALE. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of ALLETE during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 32.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its position in shares of ALLETE by 31.0% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 1,563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 61.7% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in ALLETE by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the period. 76.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ALLETE Trading Down 0.2 %

ALLETE stock opened at $65.53 on Friday. ALLETE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.86 and a 52-week high of $65.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.14 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $65.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.59.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.15). ALLETE had a return on equity of 5.97% and a net margin of 11.72%.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.73 dividend. This is a boost from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.46%. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on ALLETE in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock.

ALLETE Company 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.