Sippican Capital Advisors Grows Holdings in Alerus Financial $ALRS

Sippican Capital Advisors raised its position in Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) by 9.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,638 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,653 shares during the period. Alerus Financial comprises about 1.7% of Sippican Capital Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Sippican Capital Advisors owned about 0.44% of Alerus Financial worth $2,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALRS. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Alerus Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $6,040,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Alerus Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,185,000. Choreo LLC increased its stake in shares of Alerus Financial by 112.1% during the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 285,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,333,000 after acquiring an additional 151,045 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Alerus Financial by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,194,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,046,000 after acquiring an additional 139,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Alerus Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,195,000. 51.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Alerus Financial Stock Down 3.4%

ALRS opened at $20.81 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $22.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.01. The company has a market cap of $528.57 million, a PE ratio of 12.31 and a beta of 0.70. Alerus Financial has a 1 year low of $15.78 and a 1 year high of $24.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $74.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $69.96 million. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 11.06% and a return on equity of 10.21%. Sell-side analysts expect that Alerus Financial will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Alerus Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 26th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 26th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ALRS shares. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Alerus Financial from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Alerus Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 17th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 price objective (up previously from $24.00) on shares of Alerus Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Alerus Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Alerus Financial in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alerus Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.63.

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.