OLD Republic International Corp Sells 158,000 Shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

OLD Republic International Corp cut its stake in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 29.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 383,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 158,000 shares during the quarter. OLD Republic International Corp owned about 0.66% of ALLETE worth $24,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of ALLETE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $380,000. Olympiad Research LP increased its position in shares of ALLETE by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Olympiad Research LP now owns 31,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,015,000 after purchasing an additional 3,819 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ALLETE during the 4th quarter valued at $347,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of ALLETE by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 184,915 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,982,000 after purchasing an additional 4,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in ALLETE by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 32,525 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,108,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. 76.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on ALLETE in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

ALLETE Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE:ALE opened at $65.44 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. ALLETE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.86 and a twelve month high of $65.99. The company has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a PE ratio of 21.11 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s 50 day moving average is $65.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.56.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.15). ALLETE had a net margin of 11.72% and a return on equity of 5.97%.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.46%. This is a boost from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.19%.

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.