Victory Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stake in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 43.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 144,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 112,659 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $9,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 261.0% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of ALLETE in the second quarter valued at about $74,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ALLETE in the second quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ALLETE in the second quarter valued at about $158,000. 76.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ALLETE Stock Up 0.2 %

ALE stock opened at $64.48 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67 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’s 50-day moving average price is $64.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.65. 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 released 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 return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 11.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.49 earnings per share.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors 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 yield of 4.37%. This is an increase from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. ALLETE’s payout ratio is currently 90.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ALE shares. Sidoti raised shares of ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of ALLETE in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ALLETE has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.00.

ALLETE 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.