MetLife Investment Management LLC Raises Position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 66,592 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,284 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned about 0.12% of ALLETE worth $4,315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in ALLETE during the fourth quarter valued at $380,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in ALLETE by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 6,311 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $409,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in ALLETE by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 352,124 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $22,818,000 after acquiring an additional 49,993 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in ALLETE during the fourth quarter worth about $5,378,000. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in ALLETE in the fourth quarter worth about $671,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.55% of the company's stock.

ALLETE Price Performance

ALE opened at $65.28 on Friday. ALLETE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $59.00 and a 1 year high of $65.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $65.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.01. The firm has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 21.06 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.15). ALLETE had a return on equity of 5.97% and a net margin of 11.72%.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.73 dividend. This is a positive change from ALLETE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.47%. ALLETE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com assumed coverage on ALLETE in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock.

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.

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