Financial Perspectives Inc Has $50,000 Stock Position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Financial Perspectives Inc lowered its stake in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 19.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 206 shares during the quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $50,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ALE. Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its stake in ALLETE by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 18,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in ALLETE by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of ALLETE by 131.2% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of ALLETE by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 23,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,444,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System raised its stake in ALLETE by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $844,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ALLETE Price Performance

Shares of ALE traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $61.93. 242,151 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 460,807. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.29 and a 1 year high of $65.86. The company has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.89 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $62.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.33.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by ($0.12). ALLETE had a return on equity of 7.21% and a net margin of 13.94%. The firm had revenue of $403.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $581.26 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ALLETE, Inc. will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

ALLETE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were paid 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 yield of 4.55%. ALLETE’s payout ratio is presently 67.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of ALLETE from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on ALLETE in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.