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

Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS) saw a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 218,800 shares, an increase 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 currently 2.2 days.

Alerus Financial Trading Up 1.2 %

Alerus Financial stock opened at $19.62 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.46. Alerus Financial has a 52-week low of $17.99 and a 52-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. 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 (NASDAQ:ALRS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 1.01% and a return on equity of 6.02%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Alerus Financial will post 0.92 EPS for the current year.

Alerus Financial Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in Alerus Financial by 380.7% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,519 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 1,203 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 274,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,384,000 after purchasing an additional 7,300 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Alerus Financial by 58.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 38,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $727,000 after buying an additional 14,273 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in Alerus Financial by 191.1% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 46,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $919,000 after buying an additional 30,750 shares during the period. Finally, Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Alerus Financial by 34.0% in the 2nd quarter. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 288,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,665,000 after buying an additional 73,342 shares in the last quarter. 51.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Alerus Financial from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Alerus Financial in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Alerus Financial from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alerus Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.80.

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.