Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Allete, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Allete, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) by 14.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 52,397 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,708 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC owned about 0.09% of Allete worth $3,442,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Allete by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,365,190 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $412,464,000 after acquiring an additional 20,624 shares in the last quarter. AQR Arbitrage LLC grew its holdings in Allete by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. AQR Arbitrage LLC now owns 847,472 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $54,781,000 after acquiring an additional 197,340 shares in the last quarter. Highbridge Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Allete during the 4th quarter worth about $54,592,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Allete by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 758,828 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $49,172,000 after acquiring an additional 93,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its holdings in Allete by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 398,673 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,825,000 after acquiring an additional 30,479 shares in the last quarter. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Allete Stock Up 1.7%

Allete stock traded up $1.13 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $66.10. 1,686,423 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 343,064. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.26. Allete, Inc. has a 12 month low of $63.00 and a 12 month high of $66.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $64.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.18. The company has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 20.72 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Allete Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. Allete's payout ratio is 91.54%.

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.