ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 735,520 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 82,375 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 1.27% of ALLETE worth $47,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALE. Highbridge Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ALLETE during the 4th quarter valued at $54,592,000. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in ALLETE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,378,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in ALLETE by 187.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 100,079 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,425,000 after acquiring an additional 65,222 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 54.5% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 169,707 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $10,997,000 after acquiring an additional 59,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ALLETE during the fourth quarter worth $3,522,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.55% of the company's stock.

ALLETE Price Performance

Shares of ALLETE stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $65.29. The stock had a trading volume of 25,718 shares, compared to its average volume of 375,846. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $59.00 and a twelve month high of $65.99. The stock's 50 day moving average is $65.26 and its 200 day moving average is $65.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 21.07 and a beta of 0.69.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE - Get Free Report) 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. ALLETE's payout ratio is 94.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on ALLETE in a research 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.