Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Raises Holdings in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its position in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 12.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $3,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of ALLETE by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,459,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $157,888,000 after purchasing an additional 13,335 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of ALLETE by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,395,362 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $89,584,000 after purchasing an additional 21,850 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of ALLETE by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 786,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,971,000 after purchasing an additional 20,245 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. increased its position in shares of ALLETE by 12.9% during the third quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 398,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,551,000 after purchasing an additional 45,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in ALLETE by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 209,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,578,000 after buying an additional 7,153 shares during the last quarter. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on ALLETE in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

ALLETE Stock Performance

NYSE ALE opened at $65.63 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $65.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.17 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.08. ALLETE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.66 and a fifty-two week high of $65.99.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.15). ALLETE had a return on equity of 5.97% and a net margin of 11.72%.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is 94.19%.

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.