Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS) Short Interest Up 19.1% in July

Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 546,000 shares, a growth of 19.1% from the June 30th total of 458,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 66,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.2 days. Currently, 3.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Alerus Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $21.00 to $23.00 in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Alerus Financial from $22.50 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Alerus Financial from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.50.

Institutional Trading of Alerus Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bailard Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $265,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 123,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,422,000 after buying an additional 5,323 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 85,625.0% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 58,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,143,000 after buying an additional 58,225 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $638,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 4,147.8% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 26,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $573,000 after buying an additional 25,675 shares during the period. 51.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alerus Financial Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ ALRS opened at $22.20 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alerus Financial has a 12 month low of $16.80 and a 12 month high of $25.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $439.05 million, a PE ratio of 45.31 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.75.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $80.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.20 million. Alerus Financial had a return on equity of 7.30% and a net margin of 2.39%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Alerus Financial will post 1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Alerus Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This is an increase from Alerus Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 163.27%.

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.