Aristotle Capital Boston LLC Trims Holdings in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Aristotle Capital Boston LLC decreased its position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 196,495 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 20,653 shares during the period. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC owned about 0.34% of ALLETE worth $12,733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Highbridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of ALLETE in the 4th quarter valued at about $54,592,000. AQR Arbitrage LLC increased its position in shares of ALLETE by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. AQR Arbitrage LLC now owns 847,472 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $54,781,000 after buying an additional 197,340 shares in the last quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of ALLETE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,741,000. Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. lifted its position in shares of ALLETE by 76.3% during the 4th quarter. Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. now owns 254,175 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $16,471,000 after buying an additional 110,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in ALLETE by 14.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 758,828 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $49,172,000 after acquiring an additional 93,810 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.55% of the company's stock.

ALLETE Price Performance

NYSE:ALE traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $65.36. 120,728 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 356,874. The company has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.08 and a beta of 0.82. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $65.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.08. ALLETE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.51 and a 52-week high of $65.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

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

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 paid a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. ALLETE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of ALLETE in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set 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.