Assetmark Inc. Sells 31,779 Shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Assetmark Inc. lowered its position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) by 83.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,413 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 31,779 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.'s holdings in ALLETE were worth $412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ALE. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of ALLETE by 1.8% in the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,928 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,215,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 2.2% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,143 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in ALLETE by 12.3% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in ALLETE by 6.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,102 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its position in ALLETE by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 29,347 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,884,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. 76.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

ALLETE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALE traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $64.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 293,818 shares, compared to its average volume of 246,837. The company has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.63 and a beta of 0.80. ALLETE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $54.71 and a fifty-two week high of $65.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.45. The business's 50 day moving average price is $64.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.61.

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

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.705 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This is a boost from ALLETE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. ALLETE's payout ratio is presently 90.38%.

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.