Legal & General Group Plc Has $17.42 Million Position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 268,769 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 10,017 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.46% of ALLETE worth $17,416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of ALLETE by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 66,175 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,248,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 187.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 100,079 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,425,000 after acquiring an additional 65,222 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 1.6% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of ALLETE during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $282,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in ALLETE by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 65,056 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,190,000 after acquiring an additional 5,799 shares during the period. 76.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of ALLETE in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a "hold" rating for the company.

ALLETE Stock Performance

NYSE:ALE traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $64.72. 248,329 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 375,272. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.88 and a beta of 0.69. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $65.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.99. ALLETE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.09 and a fifty-two week high of $65.99.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given 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 yield of 4.51%. This is an increase from ALLETE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. ALLETE's dividend payout ratio is currently 94.19%.

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.