Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Invests $715,000 in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 11,034 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $715,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALE. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of ALLETE by 187.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 100,079 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,425,000 after purchasing an additional 65,222 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in ALLETE by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 65,056 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,190,000 after purchasing an additional 5,799 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,197 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,309,000 after buying an additional 1,269 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of ALLETE by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 11,786 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $764,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of ALLETE by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 876 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.55% of the company's stock.

ALLETE Stock Performance

ALE traded up $0.05 on Wednesday, reaching $65.75. 333,011 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 347,929. 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 company's 50-day moving average price is $65.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.21 and a beta of 0.82. ALLETE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.51 and a fifty-two week high of $66.22.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.01. The firm had revenue of $400.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $456.30 million. ALLETE had a return on equity of 5.97% and a net margin of 11.72%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share.

ALLETE Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.44%. ALLETE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.