Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS) Short Interest Update

Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 281,400 shares, a drop of 6.3% from the August 15th total of 300,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 44,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.3 days.

Alerus Financial Price Performance

Shares of ALRS opened at $17.89 on Tuesday. Alerus Financial has a twelve month low of $13.11 and a twelve month high of $24.16. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $356.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.67 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.09. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 15.14% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The business had revenue of $48.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.80 million. Equities analysts forecast that Alerus Financial will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alerus Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 13th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.25%. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.08%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alerus Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Alerus Financial by 71.1% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Alerus Financial by 68.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Cutler Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Alerus Financial by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cutler Capital Management LLC now owns 155,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,802,000 after acquiring an additional 1,161 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Alerus Financial by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 20,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Alerus Financial by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $441,000 after acquiring an additional 1,391 shares in the last quarter. 43.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Alerus Financial from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Alerus Financial from $20.00 to $21.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Alerus Financial from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alerus Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.38.

Alerus Financial Company Profile

Alerus Financial Corporation, through its subsidiary, Alerus Financial, National Association, provides various financial services to businesses and consumers. The company operates in four segments: Banking, Retirement and Benefit Services, Wealth Management, and Mortgage. It offers various deposit products, including demand deposits, interest-bearing transaction accounts, money market accounts, time and savings deposits, checking accounts, and certificates of deposit; and treasury management products, including electronic receivables management, remote deposit capture, cash vault services, merchant services, and other cash management services.