352,600 Shares in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Purchased by Alpine Associates Management Inc.

Alpine Associates Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 352,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $21,985,000. ALLETE makes up approximately 1.1% of Alpine Associates Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in ALLETE in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in ALLETE by 4,157.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in ALLETE in the 2nd quarter worth about $75,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC purchased a new stake in ALLETE in the 4th quarter valued at about $92,000. 76.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on ALLETE in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.00.

ALLETE Price Performance

ALE opened at $64.08 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.40 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 1.45. ALLETE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.29 and a fifty-two week high of $65.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $63.77 and a 200 day moving average of $61.83.

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

ALLETE Dividend Announcement

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

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.