Highbridge Capital Management LLC Makes New $54.59 Million Investment in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Highbridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 842,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $54,592,000. ALLETE makes up about 2.1% of Highbridge Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ALE. Glazer Capital LLC bought a new stake in ALLETE in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,766,000. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in ALLETE during the 4th quarter valued at $5,378,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of ALLETE by 187.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 100,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,425,000 after acquiring an additional 65,222 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 107.8% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 121,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,807,000 after acquiring an additional 63,091 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in ALLETE by 54.5% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 169,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,997,000 after purchasing an additional 59,891 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of ALLETE in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “hold” rating for the company.

ALLETE Stock Performance

ALLETE stock opened at $65.69 on Friday. ALLETE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.66 and a fifty-two week high of $65.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.19 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $65.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.87.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.15). ALLETE had a net margin of 11.72% and a return on equity of 5.97%.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.45%. This is a positive change from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.19%.

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.