Victory Capital Management Inc. Trims Stake in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) by 81.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,946 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 117,160 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in ALLETE were worth $1,746,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of ALLETE by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,459,692 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $157,888,000 after acquiring an additional 13,335 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in ALLETE by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,395,362 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $89,584,000 after purchasing an additional 21,850 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in ALLETE by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 786,588 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $50,971,000 after purchasing an additional 20,245 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. increased its stake in ALLETE by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 398,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,551,000 after purchasing an additional 45,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 209,532 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $13,578,000 after buying an additional 7,153 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.55% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of ALLETE in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock.

ALLETE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALE traded down $0.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $65.66. The stock had a trading volume of 280,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 346,494. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. ALLETE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $56.66 and a 12-month high of $65.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.18 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.79.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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. 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 is an increase from ALLETE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.45%. ALLETE's payout ratio is currently 94.19%.

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.