Krane Funds Advisors LLC Sells 1,285 Shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Krane Funds Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 14.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,285 shares during the quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in ALLETE in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 131.2% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 139.4% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in ALLETE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC bought a new position in ALLETE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

ALLETE Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE:ALE traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $63.00. 195,634 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 427,893. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.14 and a beta of 0.79. ALLETE, Inc. has a one year low of $49.29 and a one year high of $65.86. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.09 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $403.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $581.26 million. ALLETE had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 7.21%. Sell-side analysts expect that ALLETE, Inc. will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ALLETE Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were given a $0.705 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.48%. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of ALLETE from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on ALLETE from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on ALLETE in a research note on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.40.

About ALLETE

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.