Assetmark Inc. Sells 31,779 Shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Assetmark Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 83.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 31,779 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in ALLETE by 955.1% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 897,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,967,000 after buying an additional 812,548 shares during the period. Alpine Associates Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ALLETE during the 2nd quarter worth about $21,985,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in ALLETE by 6,668.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 239,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,941,000 after purchasing an additional 235,670 shares during the last quarter. Water Island Capital LLC purchased a new stake in ALLETE in the 2nd quarter worth about $11,583,000. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its stake in ALLETE by 59.1% in the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 441,564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,532,000 after purchasing an additional 164,064 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

ALLETE Price Performance

ALLETE stock opened at $64.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $64.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.59. ALLETE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.71 and a 1 year high of $65.86.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $407.20 million during the quarter. ALLETE had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.49 EPS.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.705 dividend. This is an increase from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. ALLETE’s payout ratio is presently 90.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Sidoti raised ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on ALLETE in a research report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ALLETE presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.