Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 3,319 Shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lowered its stake in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 75.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,319 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $66,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in ALLETE during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of ALLETE by 131.2% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of ALLETE by 85.6% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of ALLETE by 139.4% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of ALLETE by 381.3% in the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 713 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ALE. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on ALLETE from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Guggenheim upgraded ALLETE from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $58.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Sidoti lowered ALLETE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $64.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.60.

ALLETE Price Performance

ALLETE stock traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $59.02. 159,670 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 239,322. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business has a fifty day moving average of $58.34 and a 200 day moving average of $58.06. ALLETE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $49.29 and a 1-year high of $63.71. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 13.73 and a beta of 0.75.

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

ALLETE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $0.705 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $2.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.78%. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.58%.

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.