Convergence Investment Partners LLC Has $1.20 Million Stock Holdings in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Convergence Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,616 shares during the quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $1,198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ALE. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ALLETE during the 4th quarter valued at $801,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in ALLETE during the 4th quarter worth about $77,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in ALLETE by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 23,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,444,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in shares of ALLETE by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 19,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 2,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in shares of ALLETE by 217.3% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $170,000 after acquiring an additional 1,899 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

ALLETE Stock Performance

ALLETE stock traded down $0.55 during trading on Friday, hitting $59.02. The stock had a trading volume of 159,670 shares, compared to its average volume of 239,322. ALLETE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.29 and a 1 year high of $63.71. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $58.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.03. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73 and a beta of 0.75.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last posted 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). ALLETE had a net margin of 13.15% and a return on equity of 7.31%. The firm had revenue of $402.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $425.21 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. ALLETE’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that ALLETE, Inc. will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

ALLETE Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim raised ALLETE from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $58.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Sidoti lowered ALLETE from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $64.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on ALLETE from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. 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, ALLETE currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.60.

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.