Amalgamated Bank Sells 1,631 Shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Amalgamated Bank decreased its holdings in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 5.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 26,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,631 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $1,695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 59.2% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 30,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,816,000 after acquiring an additional 11,321 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 167.1% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 34,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,071,000 after acquiring an additional 21,725 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 2.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 308,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,387,000 after acquiring an additional 7,981 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,615,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $394,548,000 after acquiring an additional 35,992 shares during the period. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in ALLETE by 147.1% during the second quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 84,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,275,000 after buying an additional 50,361 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

ALLETE Price Performance

NYSE:ALE opened at $65.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.86 and a beta of 0.80. ALLETE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.14 and a 1 year high of $65.86. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $407.20 million during the quarter. ALLETE had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 5.99%. ALLETE’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.49 earnings per share.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.705 dividend. This represents a $2.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. This is a positive change from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALE has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on ALLETE in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Sidoti raised ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.00.

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.