AQR Capital Management LLC Decreases Position in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE)

AQR Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in ALLETE, Inc. (NYSE:ALE) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 406,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,153 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in ALLETE were worth $26,303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in ALLETE by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 729 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in ALLETE by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in ALLETE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $73,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in ALLETE by 38.0% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of ALLETE by 61.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 928 shares during the last quarter. 76.55% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ALLETE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALE opened at $65.49 on Friday. ALLETE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.51 and a 52 week high of $65.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.13 and a beta of 0.69. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $65.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.06.

ALLETE (NYSE:ALE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.87 earnings per share 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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.46%. ALLETE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com began coverage on ALLETE in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock.

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.