Verition Fund Management LLC Purchases 46,089 Shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Verition Fund Management LLC raised its position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) by 91.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,387 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 46,089 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC owned approximately 0.17% of ALLETE worth $6,187,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ALLETE during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted 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 valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 783 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ALLETE by 4,157.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,192 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 1,164 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in ALLETE in the 2nd quarter valued at $74,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ALLETE during the 2nd quarter worth $75,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of ALLETE in a research report on Sunday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Sidoti upgraded shares of ALLETE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $62.00.

ALLETE Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of ALLETE stock traded down $0.25 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $64.59. 287,458 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 350,426. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.60 and a twelve month high of $65.86. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $64.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.75. The stock has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.70 and a beta of 0.81.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE - Get Free Report) last posted its 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). The business 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 revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.49 earnings per share.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.705 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This is a boost from ALLETE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.37%. ALLETE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.38%.

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.