Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS) Short Interest Down 9.2% in January

Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS) was the target of a large drop in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 200,200 shares, a drop of 9.2% from the January 15th total of 220,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 84,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ALRS shares. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Alerus Financial in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective (up from $22.00) on shares of Alerus Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Alerus Financial from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Alerus Financial from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.40.

Alerus Financial Price Performance

Alerus Financial stock opened at $21.42 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $20.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.45. Alerus Financial has a 1 year low of $17.99 and a 1 year high of $24.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $542.78 million, a P/E ratio of 21.00 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.16. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 6.26% and a return on equity of 7.66%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alerus Financial will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alerus Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alerus Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Alerus Financial by 120.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 666,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,824,000 after purchasing an additional 363,617 shares during the last quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Alerus Financial during the 4th quarter worth $5,849,000. FJ Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alerus Financial during the 4th quarter worth $5,557,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 2,346.3% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 287,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,540,000 after acquiring an additional 276,161 shares during the period. Finally, Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Alerus Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $5,966,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.25% of the company’s stock.

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.