Cerity Partners LLC Sells 23,513 Shares of Allete, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Key Points

• Cerity Partners LLC significantly reduced its stake in Allete, Inc. by 84.6% during Q1, owning only 4,273 shares after selling 23,513 shares.
• Allete reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.01, in line with estimates, although its revenue fell short at $400.2 million compared to expectations of $456.3 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.73 per share, which represents an annualized dividend yield of 4.43%.

Cerity Partners LLC reduced its position in Allete, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) by 84.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,273 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 23,513 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Allete were worth $281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Allete by 13.6% in the 4th 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 position in shares of Allete by 44.5% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 591 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Allete by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 6,781 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Allete by 78.0% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 534 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Allete by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,835 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. 76.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Allete Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:ALE traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $65.78. The company had a trading volume of 102,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 408,687. Allete, Inc. has a 12 month low of $63.00 and a 12 month high of $66.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.27.

Allete (NYSE:ALE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.01. Allete had a return on equity of 6.05% and a net margin of 12.10%. The business had revenue of $400.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $456.30 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. The firm's revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis.

Allete Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.44%. Allete's dividend payout ratio is presently 91.54%.

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.