Krane Funds Advisors LLC Sells 196 Shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Krane Funds Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 2.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 196 shares during the quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $430,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Congress Asset Management Co. MA grew its position in ALLETE by 1.3% during the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 18,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in shares of ALLETE by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,143 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its stake in ALLETE by 2.9% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $844,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in ALLETE by 139.4% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

ALLETE Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of ALE stock opened at $64.06 on Friday. ALLETE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.29 and a 1 year high of $65.86. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40 and a beta of 0.80.

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

ALLETE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.7005 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. ALLETE’s payout ratio is 67.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on ALLETE in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company 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.