LPL Financial LLC Increases Stake in Allete, Inc. $ALE

LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Allete, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 4.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,030 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Allete were worth $1,523,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Allete by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Allete by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 188,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,384,000 after buying an additional 3,585 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Allete by 56.6% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 9,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,000 after purchasing an additional 3,612 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Allete in the 1st quarter valued at about $319,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Allete during the 1st quarter valued at about $622,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

Allete Stock Down 0.1%

ALE opened at $64.5050 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of 20.35 and a beta of 0.77. Allete, Inc. has a 1 year low of $63.00 and a 1 year high of $66.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $65.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Allete (NYSE:ALE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $360.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $425.30 million. Allete had a return on equity of 5.71% and a net margin of 11.98%.The firm’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 EPS.

Allete Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Allete’s dividend payout ratio is 92.11%.

Allete Profile

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.