ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Shares Sold by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its holdings in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) by 19.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 302,131 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 72,982 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.52% of ALLETE worth $19,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ALE. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ALLETE during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of ALLETE by 261.0% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,083 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 783 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in ALLETE during the second quarter valued at $74,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ALLETE in the second quarter valued at approximately $170,000. Finally, Royce & Associates LP acquired a new position in shares of ALLETE during the third quarter valued at approximately $202,000. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

ALLETE Price Performance

NYSE:ALE traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $65.32. 288,721 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 362,020. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $64.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.08. The company has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 20.94 and a beta of 0.80. ALLETE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.86 and a 1 year 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.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $407.20 million during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.49 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.705 per share. This represents a $2.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This is an increase from ALLETE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. ALLETE's dividend 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.