Victory Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,302,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,800 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $79,636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of ALLETE by 29.0% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in ALLETE by 1,278.6% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 51,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,613,000 after buying an additional 48,011 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio increased its position in ALLETE by 455.3% in the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 21,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 17,300 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of ALLETE by 8.5% in the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 7,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of ALLETE by 1.0% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 33,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,789,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Sidoti lowered shares of ALLETE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $64.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on 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 raised ALLETE from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $58.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ALLETE has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.60.

ALLETE Trading Up 5.7 %

NYSE:ALE opened at $64.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $58.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.24. ALLETE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.29 and a 1-year high of $65.86.

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

ALLETE Announces Dividend

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.