Northern Trust Corp Acquires 93,810 Shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Northern Trust Corp increased its position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 758,828 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 93,810 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.31% of ALLETE worth $49,172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in ALLETE by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,365,190 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $412,464,000 after purchasing an additional 20,624 shares during the period. Highbridge Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in ALLETE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $54,592,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in ALLETE by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 786,588 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $50,971,000 after buying an additional 20,245 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased 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 during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in ALLETE by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 368,115 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $23,854,000 after buying an additional 12,353 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.55% of the company's stock.

ALLETE Stock Up 0.2%

ALLETE stock traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $65.71. The company had a trading volume of 89,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 347,420. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.20 and a beta of 0.82. 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 fifty day moving average is $65.25 and its 200-day moving average is $65.11. ALLETE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.51 and a fifty-two week high of $66.29.

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

ALLETE Announces Dividend

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