Citigroup Inc. Raises Holdings in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) by 28.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 129,635 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 28,612 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of ALLETE worth $8,321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in ALLETE by 59.2% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 30,441 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,816,000 after buying an additional 11,321 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of ALLETE by 249.1% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 147.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 84,607 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,275,000 after acquiring an additional 50,361 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of ALLETE in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,572,000. Finally, Alpine Associates Management Inc. purchased a new position in ALLETE in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $21,985,000. 76.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on ALLETE in a research report on Saturday, November 23rd. They set a "hold" rating 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given 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 Stock Performance

ALE stock remained flat at $64.88 on Friday. The company had a trading volume of 138,769 shares, compared to its average volume of 351,344. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $64.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.73. The company has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. ALLETE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $54.90 and a 12-month high of $65.86.

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

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.705 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 yield of 4.35%. ALLETE's payout ratio is 90.38%.

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.