Ameriprise Financial Inc. Grows Stock Position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 92,130 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,168 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.16% of ALLETE worth $5,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALE. Barclays PLC raised its stake in ALLETE by 187.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 100,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,425,000 after buying an additional 65,222 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in ALLETE by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 11,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $764,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in ALLETE by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in ALLETE by 61.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in ALLETE in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,378,000. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ALLETE Trading Up 0.0%

ALLETE stock opened at $64.98 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $65.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a PE ratio of 20.96 and a beta of 0.82. ALLETE, Inc. has a one year low of $61.51 and a one year high of $65.99.

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

ALLETE Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. 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.