Creative Planning Has $1.41 Million Holdings in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Creative Planning raised its stake in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 991 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $1,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in ALLETE by 261.0% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 783 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased 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. bought a new position in shares of ALLETE in the second quarter valued at about $74,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of ALLETE in the second quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its position in ALLETE by 1,118.1% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,156 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 1,979 shares in the last quarter. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ALLETE Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of ALLETE stock opened at $64.00 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.38 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $63.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.12. ALLETE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.89 and a 1 year high of $65.86.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.30). ALLETE had a return on equity of 7.07% and a net margin of 14.36%. The firm had revenue of $354.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $547.24 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.705 per share. This represents a $2.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.41%. This is an increase from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sidoti upgraded shares of ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of ALLETE in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.00.

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.