ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Shares Acquired by Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.

Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. grew its position in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) by 76.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 254,175 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 110,000 shares during the period. ALLETE comprises 7.0% of Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. owned 0.44% of ALLETE worth $16,471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ALE. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in ALLETE by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 729 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in ALLETE by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 876 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in ALLETE during the 4th quarter valued at about $73,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in ALLETE by 38.0% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,410 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 61.7% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,431 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 928 shares during the period. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

ALLETE Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of ALE traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $65.51. 83,098 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 356,731. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. ALLETE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.51 and a twelve month high of $65.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $65.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.08. The stock has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.13 and a beta of 0.82.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01. The business had revenue of $400.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $456.30 million. ALLETE had a net margin of 11.72% and a return on equity of 5.97%. ALLETE's revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share.

ALLETE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. ALLETE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.