Rhumbline Advisers Has $13.58 Million Position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 209,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,153 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.36% of ALLETE worth $13,578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ALE. Glazer Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of ALLETE during the 3rd quarter worth about $5,766,000. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of ALLETE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,378,000. Barclays PLC grew its position 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. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in shares of ALLETE by 107.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 121,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,807,000 after purchasing an additional 63,091 shares during the period. Finally, ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a new position in shares of ALLETE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,201,000. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

ALLETE Price Performance

Shares of ALE opened at $65.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.56. ALLETE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.86 and a 52-week high of $65.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 billion, a PE ratio of 21.11 and a beta of 0.80.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 announced 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. This is a boost from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.46%. ALLETE’s payout ratio is presently 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.