Gator Capital Management LLC Invests $1.44 Million in Alerus Financial $ALRS

Gator Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 64,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,437,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALRS. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Alerus Financial by 189.9% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 12,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 8,261 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 648.1% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 3,675 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,742,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Alerus Financial by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 796,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,639,000 after purchasing an additional 39,652 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M3F Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alerus Financial by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. M3F Inc. now owns 262,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,810,000 after purchasing an additional 45,695 shares during the last quarter. 51.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on ALRS shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Alerus Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Alerus Financial from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Hovde Group cut shares of Alerus Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Alerus Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Alerus Financial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Alerus Financial Trading Down 1.1%

NASDAQ ALRS opened at $23.42 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Alerus Financial has a twelve month low of $15.78 and a twelve month high of $26.32. The company has a market cap of $594.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.49 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s fifty day moving average is $24.39 and its 200 day moving average is $22.86.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $77.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $71.43 million. Alerus Financial had a return on equity of 13.18% and a net margin of 4.36%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Alerus Financial will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alerus Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 27th. Alerus Financial’s payout ratio is 127.27%.

Alerus Financial Company Profile

Alerus Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ALRS) is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The firm provides a full range of commercial and consumer banking products, including deposit accounts, lending solutions and treasury management services for individuals, small businesses and larger corporate clients. Through its community banking network, Alerus emphasizes local decision-making and personalized service to meet the needs of its varied client base.

In addition to traditional banking offerings, Alerus operates a national mortgage origination and servicing platform that delivers home purchase and refinance loans.