Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS) Short Interest Down 55.4% in October

Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 286,600 shares, a drop of 55.4% from the September 30th total of 642,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 69,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alerus Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of Alerus Financial by 380.7% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 1,203 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alerus Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $142,000. Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Alerus Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $265,000. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $417,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Alerus Financial by 4,147.8% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 26,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 25,675 shares during the last quarter. 51.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Alerus Financial from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Alerus Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Alerus Financial from $22.50 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Alerus Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.40.

Alerus Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ALRS opened at $23.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Alerus Financial has a 1-year low of $17.07 and a 1-year high of $25.85. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $22.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $459.22 million, a PE ratio of 47.39 and a beta of 0.66.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $80.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.20 million. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 7.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Alerus Financial will post 1.21 EPS for the current year.

Alerus Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 163.27%.

About Alerus Financial

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.