Rhino Investment Partners Inc Takes $5.85 Million Position in Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS)

Rhino Investment Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 303,996 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,849,000. Alerus Financial makes up about 1.3% of Rhino Investment Partners Inc's portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Rhino Investment Partners Inc owned about 1.20% of Alerus Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ALRS. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 201,291 shares of the company's stock worth $3,873,000 after buying an additional 30,821 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $159,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 457.6% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,277 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. M3F Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,455,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Alerus Financial by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 13,275 shares of the company's stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 2,620 shares during the last quarter. 51.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALRS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $24.00 target price (up from $22.00) on shares of Alerus Financial in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Alerus Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Alerus Financial from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Alerus Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alerus Financial presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $23.00.

Alerus Financial Price Performance

Shares of ALRS stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $21.07. 35,813 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 74,269. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $537.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.64 and a beta of 0.70. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $18.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.09. Alerus Financial Co. has a twelve month low of $15.78 and a twelve month high of $24.41.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $68.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.20 million. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 6.26% and a return on equity of 7.66%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alerus Financial Co. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Alerus Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Alerus Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.57%.

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.