Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 218,800 shares, a growth 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 presently 2.2 days.
Several analysts recently weighed in on ALRS shares. Raymond James started coverage on Alerus Financial in a report on Tuesday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Alerus Financial from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Alerus Financial from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $22.80.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Alerus Financial
Shares of Alerus Financial stock opened at $19.62 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $20.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.43. The company has a market capitalization of $497.13 million, a PE ratio of 122.63 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Alerus Financial has a 52 week low of $17.99 and a 52 week high of $25.85.
Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $80.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Alerus Financial will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current year.
The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Alerus Financial's payout ratio is 500.00%.
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALRS. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. bought a new position in shares of Alerus Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $5,966,000. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 34.0% during 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. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 191.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new position in Alerus Financial in the third quarter valued at about $530,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in Alerus Financial in the third quarter valued at about $424,000. Institutional investors own 51.25% of the company's stock.
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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