Congress Asset Management Co. Sells 524 Shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

Congress Asset Management Co. lessened its stake in shares of ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 49,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 524 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $3,162,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ALE. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of ALLETE by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of ALLETE by 2.2% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,143 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after buying an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in ALLETE by 2.9% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $844,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in ALLETE by 12.3% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in ALLETE by 6.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. 76.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Sidoti upgraded 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 ALLETE in a report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Four investment 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.00.

ALLETE Price Performance

NYSE:ALE opened at $64.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.54 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $63.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.17. ALLETE, Inc. has a one year low of $53.14 and a one year high of $65.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.87 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $354.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $547.24 million. ALLETE had a return on equity of 5.99% and a net margin of 11.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS.

ALLETE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.705 dividend. This is an increase from ALLETE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.40%. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.