Wolverine Asset Management LLC Acquires 10,302 Shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Wolverine Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) by 30.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,633 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,302 shares during the period. Wolverine Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.08% of ALLETE worth $2,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALE. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of ALLETE by 18.4% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 32,734 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,952,000 after acquiring an additional 5,098 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its holdings in ALLETE by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 50,303 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,000,000 after buying an additional 652 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in ALLETE by 167.1% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 34,723 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,071,000 after acquiring an additional 21,725 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 308,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $18,387,000 after acquiring an additional 7,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ALLETE in the 1st quarter worth $439,000. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Sidoti raised shares of ALLETE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of ALLETE in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.00.

ALLETE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALE traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $65.07. 251,404 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 355,749. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $3.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.91 and a beta of 0.80. ALLETE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $53.14 and a twelve month high of $65.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.47.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business posted $1.49 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.705 per share. This is a positive change from ALLETE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. ALLETE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.38%.

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.