International Assets Investment Management LLC Purchases Shares of 19,143 ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 19,143 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $11,710,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ALE. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of ALLETE by 131.2% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 467 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of ALLETE by 85.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 566 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its position in ALLETE by 381.3% during the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 900 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its position in ALLETE by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,096 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ledge Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in ALLETE during the 4th quarter valued at about $225,000. 76.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ALLETE Stock Performance

ALLETE stock traded down $1.28 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $62.99. 3,439,234 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 329,767. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $58.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95 and a beta of 0.75. ALLETE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.29 and a 1 year high of $65.86.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $402.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $425.21 million. ALLETE had a net margin of 13.15% and a return on equity of 7.31%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that ALLETE, Inc. will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ALLETE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $0.705 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.48%. ALLETE's payout ratio is 65.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim raised ALLETE from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $58.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Sidoti lowered ALLETE from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $64.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on ALLETE from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $58.60.

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.