Royce & Associates LP Acquires New Shares in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Royce & Associates LP bought a new position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in ALLETE by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,615,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $394,548,000 after purchasing an additional 35,992 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its position in ALLETE by 44.4% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 13,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $775,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew 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 worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of ALLETE by 9.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 80,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,806,000 after purchasing an additional 6,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in ALLETE by 154.5% in the first quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 250,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,963,000 after purchasing an additional 152,294 shares during the period. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ALLETE Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ALE opened at $64.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63 and a beta of 0.80. ALLETE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $54.71 and a 1-year high of $65.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.45.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.49 earnings per share.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of ALLETE in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Sidoti raised ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ALLETE presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.