LPL Financial LLC Has $1.44 Million Stock Holdings in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 40.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,159 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,367 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $1,436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in ALLETE by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 11,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $764,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 8,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $531,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of ALLETE by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after buying an additional 591 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

ALLETE Price Performance

ALLETE stock opened at $64.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.88 and a beta of 0.69. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $65.34 and its 200 day moving average is $64.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.69. ALLETE, Inc. has a one year low of $57.85 and a one year high of $65.99.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.15). ALLETE had a return on equity of 5.97% and a net margin of 11.72%.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.51%. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of ALLETE in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

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.