Jane Street Group LLC Buys 63,091 Shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) by 107.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 121,631 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 63,091 shares during the quarter. Jane Street Group LLC owned 0.21% of ALLETE worth $7,807,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 12.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,827 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of ALLETE by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of ALLETE by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 34,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,157,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 53,536 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,338,000 after purchasing an additional 4,658 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Global Investments lifted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 22,528 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,405,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the period. 76.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Sidoti upgraded shares of ALLETE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on ALLETE in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ALLETE presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.00.

ALLETE Price Performance

Shares of ALE stock traded up $0.09 on Friday, hitting $64.64. 211,466 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 350,202. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.95. ALLETE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.86 and a 52 week high of $65.86. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.84. The firm has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.72 and a beta of 0.81.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $407.20 million for the quarter. ALLETE had a net margin of 11.49% and a return on equity of 5.99%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.49 earnings per share.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.705 dividend. This represents a $2.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.36%. This is an increase from ALLETE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. ALLETE's dividend payout ratio is presently 90.38%.

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.