Kennedy Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 136,822 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 8,502 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.24% of ALLETE worth $8,866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its stake in ALLETE by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 398,673 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,825,000 after buying an additional 30,479 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ALLETE in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,522,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of ALLETE by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 331,472 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $21,479,000 after buying an additional 41,315 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in ALLETE by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 11,173 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $724,000 after purchasing an additional 1,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in ALLETE by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 27,786 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,800,000 after acquiring an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ALLETE Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of ALLETE stock traded down $0.02 on Wednesday, reaching $64.96. The company had a trading volume of 67,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 370,267. ALLETE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.31 and a 1 year high of $65.99. The firm has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $65.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.98.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.15). ALLETE had a net margin of 11.72% and a return on equity of 5.97%.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.73 dividend. This is a boost from ALLETE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.50%. ALLETE's dividend payout ratio is presently 94.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of ALLETE in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock.

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.