AdvisorNet Financial Inc Sells 573 Shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

AdvisorNet Financial Inc decreased its position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 41.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 573 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $52,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ALE. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new position in ALLETE during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in ALLETE by 261.0% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 783 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in ALLETE during the 2nd quarter valued at about $74,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in ALLETE by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP purchased a new stake in shares of ALLETE during the 3rd quarter valued at about $202,000. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

ALLETE Trading Up 0.1 %

ALLETE stock opened at $65.71 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $64.82 and a 200 day moving average of $64.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.06 and a beta of 0.80. ALLETE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.86 and a 12-month high of $65.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

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

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.705 per share. This is a positive change from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Sidoti raised shares of ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of ALLETE in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ALLETE currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.33.

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.