State of Michigan Retirement System Trims Holdings in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

State of Michigan Retirement System lowered its holdings in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ALE. Bailard Inc. lifted its stake in ALLETE by 30.2% in the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 5,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments lifted its position in shares of ALLETE by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 22,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,405,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 53,536 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,338,000 after purchasing an additional 4,658 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of ALLETE by 1.8% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 34,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,157,000 after buying an additional 623 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in ALLETE by 8.6% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ALLETE Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:ALE opened at $63.55 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.28 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.96. ALLETE, Inc. has a one year low of $49.29 and a one year high of $65.86. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.33.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $354.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $547.24 million. ALLETE had a net margin of 14.36% and a return on equity of 7.07%. ALLETE’s revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share.

ALLETE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.7005 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.41%. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.79%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on ALE shares. StockNews.com assumed coverage on ALLETE in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price target on ALLETE from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.00.

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.