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

by · The Markets Daily

Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS – Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest during 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 days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.1 days.

Alerus Financial Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ ALRS traded down $0.35 during trading on Friday, hitting $23.22. The stock had a trading volume of 54,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,890. Alerus Financial has a 12 month low of $17.07 and a 12 month high of $25.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $459.22 million, a PE ratio of 47.39 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $22.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.85.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.06). Alerus Financial had a return on equity of 7.25% and a net margin of 2.39%. The firm had revenue of $80.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.20 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Alerus Financial will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alerus Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued 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 (DPR) is currently 163.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alerus Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cetera Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alerus Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $638,000. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 85,625.0% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 58,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,143,000 after buying an additional 58,225 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 4,147.8% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 26,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 25,675 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 191.1% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 46,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $919,000 after purchasing an additional 30,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. bought a new position in shares of Alerus Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $265,000. 51.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ALRS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective 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 raised their price target on shares of Alerus Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of 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 upgraded shares of Alerus Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.40.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on ALRS

Alerus Financial Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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