ProShare Advisors LLC Buys 15,456 Shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 142,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,456 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $9,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ALE. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in ALLETE by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted 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 worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of ALLETE in the 4th quarter worth about $73,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of ALLETE by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,371 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 38.0% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 663 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company’s stock.

ALLETE Stock Performance

NYSE:ALE opened at $65.13 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50 day moving average of $65.26 and a 200 day moving average of $65.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.69. ALLETE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.51 and a 1-year high of $65.99.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01. ALLETE had a net margin of 11.72% and a return on equity of 5.97%. The firm had revenue of $400.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $456.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis.

ALLETE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.48%. ALLETE’s payout ratio is 91.54%.

ALLETE Company 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.