Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Trims Stock Position in Allete, Inc. $ALE

Key Points

• Gamco Investors INC. ET AL reduced its stake in Allete, Inc. by 11%, selling 6,028 shares, and now owns 48,725 shares valued at approximately $3.2 million.
• Allete's earnings report for the last quarter indicated an EPS of $0.61, falling short of the expected $0.85, while its revenue was $360.3 million, below the forecast of $425.3 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.73 per share, equating to an annualized yield of 4.6%, with a payout ratio of 92.11%.

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL trimmed its holdings in Allete, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) by 11.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,725 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 6,028 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned 0.08% of Allete worth $3,201,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in Allete by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Allete by 44.5% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 591 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in Allete by 2.8% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 6,781 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in Allete by 1.5% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 13,846 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $910,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in Allete by 1.3% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 16,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,064,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Allete Trading Down 0.4%

ALE stock traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $63.46. 208,553 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 435,800. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.18. Allete, Inc. has a 12-month low of $63.24 and a 12-month high of $66.46.

Allete (NYSE:ALE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $360.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $425.30 million. Allete had a return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 11.98%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.82 EPS.

Allete Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Allete's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.11%.

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.