ABC Arbitrage SA Buys New Shares in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 49,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,201,000. ABC Arbitrage SA owned about 0.09% of ALLETE at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in ALLETE by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in ALLETE by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 11,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $764,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in ALLETE by 1.9% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 16,844 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,081,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in ALLETE by 1.8% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,215,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its stake in ALLETE by 31.0% during the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 1,563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ALLETE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALE opened at $65.33 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 20.94 and a beta of 0.80. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $65.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.51. ALLETE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.86 and a 12 month high of $65.99.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.15). ALLETE had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 11.49%.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.73 dividend. This is an increase from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.47%. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.