XTX Topco Ltd Purchases New Position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 12,130 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $779,000.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in ALLETE by 955.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 897,622 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $55,967,000 after purchasing an additional 812,548 shares during the period. Alpine Associates Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ALLETE in the second quarter valued at $21,985,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in ALLETE by 6,668.6% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 239,204 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,941,000 after buying an additional 235,670 shares in the last quarter. Water Island Capital LLC acquired a new position in ALLETE during the second quarter worth about $11,583,000. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC raised its position in ALLETE by 59.1% in the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 441,564 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,532,000 after acquiring an additional 164,064 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on ALE. Sidoti upgraded shares of 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 report on Monday. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.00.

ALLETE Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of ALLETE stock traded down $0.28 on Thursday, hitting $64.55. 270,298 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 350,467. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. ALLETE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.86 and a 12-month high of $65.86. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $64.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.83. The company has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.78 and a beta of 0.81.

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 return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 11.49%. The company had revenue of $407.20 million during the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.49 earnings per share. ALLETE's revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

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