Convergence Investment Partners LLC Has $1.20 Million Stock Position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Convergence Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,616 shares during the quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $1,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in ALLETE by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $862,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in ALLETE by 85.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in ALLETE by 131.2% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in ALLETE by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 23,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,444,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its position in ALLETE by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

ALLETE Stock Performance

Shares of ALE stock traded down $0.55 during trading on Friday, reaching $59.02. The company had a trading volume of 159,670 shares, compared to its average volume of 239,322. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.78. ALLETE, Inc. has a one year low of $49.29 and a one year high of $63.71. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 13.73 and a beta of 0.75.

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

ALLETE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $0.705 dividend. This represents a $2.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. ALLETE’s payout ratio is 65.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on ALLETE from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Sidoti lowered ALLETE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $64.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded ALLETE from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.60.

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.