ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Shares Sold by Mutual of America Capital Management LLC

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC decreased its position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,185 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $5,226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners increased its position in ALLETE by 59.2% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 30,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,816,000 after purchasing an additional 11,321 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in ALLETE by 0.5% during 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. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in ALLETE in the second quarter valued at $3,572,000. Alpine Associates Management Inc. acquired a new stake in ALLETE in the second quarter valued at $21,985,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of ALLETE by 40.9% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 59,299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,697,000 after purchasing an additional 17,200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

ALLETE Price Performance

ALLETE stock opened at $64.36 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 20.63 and a beta of 0.80. ALLETE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.71 and a 52 week high of $65.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

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

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.705 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This is an increase from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. ALLETE’s payout ratio is 90.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Sidoti raised 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 Friday, November 15th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Four 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, the stock presently has an average 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.