Arizona State Retirement System Has $981,000 Stock Holdings in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Arizona State Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 273 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $981,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALE. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of ALLETE by 1.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 17,411 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,166,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ALLETE in the first quarter worth $204,000. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of ALLETE by 10.9% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,374 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of ALLETE in the first quarter worth $1,252,000. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its stake in shares of ALLETE by 11.7% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 30,291 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,085,000 after acquiring an additional 3,163 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

ALLETE Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ALE opened at $57.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a PE ratio of 13.36 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a fifty day moving average of $58.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.67. ALLETE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $49.29 and a 52-week high of $65.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.24.

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

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a $0.705 dividend. This represents a $2.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.91%. This is a boost from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. ALLETE’s payout ratio is currently 65.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.