Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 218,800 shares, a growth of 13.8% from the December 15th total of 192,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 101,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alerus Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 380.7% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,203 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $142,000. Harbor Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Alerus Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $226,000. Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new position in Alerus Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $417,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Alerus Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $424,000. 51.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James started coverage on Alerus Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Alerus Financial from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Alerus Financial from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alerus Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.80.

Alerus Financial Stock Up 1.2 %

Alerus Financial stock traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $19.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 234,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 76,002. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.44. The company has a market cap of $497.17 million, a P/E ratio of 122.63 and a beta of 0.71. Alerus Financial has a fifty-two week low of $17.99 and a fifty-two week high of $25.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $80.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.30 million. Alerus Financial had a return on equity of 6.02% and a net margin of 1.01%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Alerus Financial will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alerus Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 500.03%.

Alerus Financial Company Profile

Alerus Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Alerus Financial, National Association that engages in the provision of various financial services to businesses and consumers. The company operates in four segments: Banking, Mortgage, Retirement and Benefit Services, and Wealth Management.