Alliancebernstein L.P. Purchases 12,353 Shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 368,115 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,353 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.64% of ALLETE worth $23,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ALE. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in ALLETE by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,365,190 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $412,464,000 after buying an additional 20,624 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in ALLETE by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,459,692 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $157,888,000 after acquiring an additional 13,335 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in ALLETE by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,395,362 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $89,584,000 after acquiring an additional 21,850 shares in the last quarter. Highbridge Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in ALLETE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,592,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in ALLETE by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 786,588 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $50,971,000 after purchasing an additional 20,245 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.55% of the company's stock.

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ALLETE Stock Performance

Shares of ALLETE stock traded down $0.26 during trading on Friday, hitting $64.35. 766,673 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 373,066. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $65.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76 and a beta of 0.69. ALLETE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $56.66 and a 1-year high of $65.99.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE - Get Free Report) 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 net margin of 11.72% and a return on equity of 5.97%.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.54%. This is a positive change from ALLETE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. ALLETE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on ALLETE in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company.

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.