Magellan Asset Management Ltd Reduces Stock Position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Magellan Asset Management Ltd reduced its stake in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,069 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,237 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd owned approximately 0.07% of ALLETE worth $2,791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ALE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of ALLETE by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,365,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $412,464,000 after buying an additional 20,624 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in ALLETE by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,459,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $157,888,000 after acquiring an additional 13,335 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in ALLETE by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,395,362 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $89,584,000 after acquiring an additional 21,850 shares during the period. Highbridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in ALLETE in the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,592,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in ALLETE by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 786,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,971,000 after purchasing an additional 20,245 shares during the period. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ALLETE Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ALE opened at $65.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of 21.13 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.08. ALLETE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.66 and a 52-week high of $65.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $65.54 and a 200 day moving average of $64.92.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.15). ALLETE had a return on equity of 5.97% and a net margin of 11.72%.

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 issued a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. This is a positive change from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. ALLETE’s payout ratio is presently 94.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of ALLETE in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock.

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.