Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Trims Position in Alerus Financial $ALRS

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL decreased its position in shares of Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) by 76.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,836 shares of the company’s stock after selling 65,257 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned approximately 0.08% of Alerus Financial worth $470,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alerus Financial during the first quarter worth about $1,195,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Alerus Financial by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in Alerus Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $441,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in Alerus Financial by 29.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 28,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 6,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Alerus Financial by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 32,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $698,000 after buying an additional 1,072 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.25% of the company’s stock.

Alerus Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Alerus Financial stock opened at $32.95 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $828.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.99 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $30.43 and a 200 day moving average of $26.84. Alerus Financial has a 12 month low of $20.26 and a 12 month high of $33.44.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 6.74% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $80.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.99 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Alerus Financial will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Alerus Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 26th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 26th. This is an increase from Alerus Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Alerus Financial’s payout ratio is 85.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on ALRS shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Alerus Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Alerus Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Alerus Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Alerus Financial in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $34.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Alerus Financial from $28.50 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.50.

About Alerus Financial

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.