ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its position in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 58,362 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 12,721 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.10% of ALLETE worth $3,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in ALLETE in the third quarter worth about $38,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in ALLETE by 261.0% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,083 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 783 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in ALLETE during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $74,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in ALLETE during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of ALLETE in the second quarter worth $158,000. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Sidoti raised 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 Sunday, December 1st. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ALLETE presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.00.

ALLETE Stock Performance

Shares of ALE traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $64.54. The stock had a trading volume of 354,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 254,904. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $64.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69 and a beta of 0.81. ALLETE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.86 and a fifty-two week 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $1.49 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.705 dividend. This represents a $2.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This is a positive change from ALLETE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. ALLETE's payout ratio is currently 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.