D.A. Davidson & CO. Has $1.07 Million Stake in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

D.A. Davidson & CO. lowered its stake in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 306 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $1,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ALE. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,459,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $157,888,000 after buying an additional 13,335 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in ALLETE by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,395,362 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $89,584,000 after acquiring an additional 21,850 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in ALLETE by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 766,343 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,192,000 after acquiring an additional 7,739 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. boosted its holdings in ALLETE by 12.9% during the third quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 398,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,551,000 after acquiring an additional 45,447 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of ALLETE by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 209,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,578,000 after purchasing an additional 7,153 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

ALLETE Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of ALE stock opened at $65.44 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $65.25 and a 200-day moving average of $64.56. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a PE ratio of 21.11 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. ALLETE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.86 and a 12 month high of $65.99.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.19%.

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.