ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio decreased its position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 75.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,319 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $66,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in ALLETE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of ALLETE by 131.2% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of ALLETE by 85.6% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew 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 worth $43,000 after buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management grew its position in shares of ALLETE by 381.3% during the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sidoti downgraded shares of ALLETE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $64.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Guggenheim raised shares of ALLETE from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of ALLETE from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ALLETE has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.60.

ALLETE Stock Performance

ALLETE stock traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $59.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 159,670 shares, compared to its average volume of 239,322. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $58.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. ALLETE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.29 and a twelve month high of $63.71.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). ALLETE had a return on equity of 7.31% and a net margin of 13.15%. The business had revenue of $402.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $425.21 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that ALLETE, Inc. will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ALLETE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.705 per share. This represents a $2.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.58%.

ALLETE Company 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.