ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Shares Purchased by Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its position in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ owned 0.08% of ALLETE worth $3,016,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ALE. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ALLETE during the third quarter worth about $205,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its position in ALLETE by 5.0% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 31,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,013,000 after acquiring an additional 1,484 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP purchased a new position in ALLETE during the third quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in ALLETE by 249.1% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 34,367 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,206,000 after acquiring an additional 24,523 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in ALLETE by 14.8% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

ALLETE Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of ALE stock opened at $65.63 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $65.49 and a 200 day moving average of $64.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.17 and a beta of 0.74. ALLETE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $56.66 and a twelve month high of $65.99.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 EPS 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.45%. ALLETE’s payout ratio is 94.19%.

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.