ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Shares Acquired by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 766,343 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,739 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.33% of ALLETE worth $49,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in ALLETE by 88.5% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 9,763 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 4,584 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of ALLETE by 12.9% in the third quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 398,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,551,000 after buying an additional 45,447 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of ALLETE by 14.8% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,135 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in ALLETE by 249.1% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 34,367 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,206,000 after acquiring an additional 24,523 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP bought a new position in ALLETE during the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

ALLETE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALE remained flat at $64.88 on Friday. 138,769 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 261,413. 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 $54.90 and a 52 week high of $65.86. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.73. The company has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79 and a beta of 0.80.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $407.20 million for the quarter. ALLETE had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 11.49%. ALLETE's revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.705 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This is an increase from ALLETE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.35%. ALLETE's payout ratio is currently 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.