BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 4,744 Shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets trimmed its holdings in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 24.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,726 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,744 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in ALLETE were worth $954,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in ALLETE by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 92,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,970,000 after purchasing an additional 2,168 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of ALLETE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $292,000. Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. raised its stake in shares of ALLETE by 76.3% during the 4th quarter. Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. now owns 254,175 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,471,000 after purchasing an additional 110,000 shares in the last quarter. Aequim Alternative Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of ALLETE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,716,000. Finally, AQR Arbitrage LLC grew its stake in shares of ALLETE by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. AQR Arbitrage LLC now owns 847,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,781,000 after buying an additional 197,340 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

ALLETE Price Performance

Shares of ALE opened at $65.23 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.16. ALLETE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.51 and a 1-year high of $65.99. The company has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.04 and a beta of 0.82.

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

ALLETE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. ALLETE’s payout ratio is currently 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.