Alerus Financial NA Invests $202,000 in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Alerus Financial NA purchased a new stake in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,111 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 31.0% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 1,563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in ALLETE by 61.7% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 928 shares during the period. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new position in ALLETE during the third quarter valued at approximately $266,000. 76.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ALLETE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALE opened at $65.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a PE ratio of 21.19 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $65.55 and a 200 day moving average of $64.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.08. ALLETE, Inc. has a one year low of $56.66 and a one year high of $65.99.

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

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.45%. This is a positive change from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of ALLETE in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

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.