Paloma Partners Management Co Boosts Holdings in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Paloma Partners Management Co boosted its position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 46.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,942 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $395,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of ALLETE by 30.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of ALLETE by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ALLETE during the 4th quarter worth $73,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of ALLETE by 38.0% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of ALLETE by 61.7% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 928 shares in the last quarter. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of ALLETE in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

ALLETE Price Performance

ALLETE stock opened at $65.25 on Tuesday. ALLETE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $59.00 and a 52 week high of $65.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 21.05 and a beta of 0.69.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 5.97% and a net margin of 11.72%.

ALLETE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.48%. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio 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.