Short Interest in Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS) Drops By 5.8%

Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 399,500 shares, a decrease of 5.8% from the March 15th total of 424,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 41,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.7 days.

Institutional Trading of Alerus Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Alerus Financial by 71.1% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Alerus Financial by 68.3% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Alerus Financial by 248.1% in the second quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134 shares during the period. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Alerus Financial by 407.3% in the fourth quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 3,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 2,831 shares during the period. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alerus Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $81,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.25% of the company’s stock.

Alerus Financial Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of ALRS opened at $19.92 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $393.22 million, a PE ratio of 34.95 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a fifty day moving average of $21.55 and a 200 day moving average of $20.45. Alerus Financial has a 52-week low of $13.11 and a 52-week high of $25.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $46.99 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.00 million. Alerus Financial had a return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 4.34%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Alerus Financial will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

Alerus Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. Alerus Financial’s payout ratio is 133.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALRS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson upped their price target on Alerus Financial from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Alerus Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Alerus Financial from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th.

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.