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

Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS - Get Free Report) saw a large 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 volume of 69,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Alerus Financial by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 911,806 shares of the company's stock worth $19,905,000 after purchasing an additional 13,637 shares during the last quarter. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alerus Financial by 34.0% in the 2nd quarter. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 288,876 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,665,000 after purchasing an additional 73,342 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Alerus Financial by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 274,615 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,384,000 after buying an additional 7,300 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Alerus Financial by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 123,512 shares of the company's stock worth $2,422,000 after purchasing an additional 5,323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sippican Capital Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 11.9% in the first quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 67,390 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,471,000 after acquiring an additional 7,185 shares in the last quarter. 51.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alerus Financial Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Alerus Financial stock traded down $0.35 during trading on Friday, hitting $23.22. 54,298 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 57,890. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $22.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.85. Alerus Financial has a twelve month low of $17.07 and a twelve month high of $25.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $459.22 million, a P/E ratio of 47.39 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Alerus Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. Alerus Financial's payout ratio is presently 163.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson raised their price target 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. Raymond James raised shares of Alerus Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Alerus Financial from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Alerus Financial from $22.50 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Three equities 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 company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $23.40.

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.