Quantbot Technologies LP Takes Position in Allete, Inc. $ALE

Key Points

• Quantbot Technologies LP has acquired a $1 million position in Allete, Inc. by purchasing 15,224 shares of the utilities provider.
• Several hedge funds have increased their stakes in Allete, with Lazard Asset Management raising its holdings by 13.6% and Hexagon Capital Partners by 44.5% in the first quarter.
• Allete recently reported a quarterly earnings miss with earnings per share of $0.61, falling short of analysts' expectations of $0.85.

Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Allete, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 15,224 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,000,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Allete by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,917 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,902 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Allete during the 4th quarter valued at $3,522,000. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in shares of Allete by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 12,256 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 2,697 shares during the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Allete during the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Allete by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 255,143 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $16,495,000 after purchasing an additional 5,948 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company's stock.

Allete Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of ALE stock traded down $0.13 on Thursday, hitting $64.21. 452,610 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 430,009. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.34. Allete, Inc. has a one year low of $63.00 and a one year high of $66.46. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $65.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.25 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Allete Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Allete's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.11%.

Allete Company 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.