ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Shares Purchased by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank raised its position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 113,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.20% of ALLETE worth $7,361,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in ALLETE by 88.5% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 9,763 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $627,000 after buying an additional 4,584 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in ALLETE by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 766,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,192,000 after purchasing an additional 7,739 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in ALLETE by 28.3% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 129,635 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,321,000 after purchasing an additional 28,612 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in ALLETE by 1.7% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 27,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,738,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 73.3% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 71,018 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,559,000 after purchasing an additional 30,030 shares in the last quarter. 76.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ALLETE Price Performance

ALE opened at $65.66 on Friday. ALLETE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $56.66 and a twelve month high of $65.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.18 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.82.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.45%. This is an increase from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.