Citigroup Inc. Increases Stock Position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 28.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 129,635 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,612 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $8,321,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in ALLETE by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 964,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,118,000 after purchasing an additional 52,499 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 955.1% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 897,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $55,967,000 after buying an additional 812,548 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 1.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 766,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,192,000 after acquiring an additional 7,739 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its position in ALLETE by 59.1% during the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 441,564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,532,000 after acquiring an additional 164,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Associates Management Inc. lifted its holdings in ALLETE by 12.9% in the third quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 398,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,551,000 after acquiring an additional 45,447 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

ALLETE Price Performance

NYSE ALE opened at $64.88 on Friday. ALLETE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.90 and a 52 week high of $65.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $64.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.72.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.21). ALLETE had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 11.49%. The firm had revenue of $407.20 million for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.705 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.35%. This is an increase from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on ALLETE in a research note on Saturday, November 23rd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Sidoti raised shares of ALLETE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.00.

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.