Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.25.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ALRS shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Alerus Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Alerus Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Alerus Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Alerus Financial from $28.50 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alerus Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alerus Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALRS. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Alerus Financial by 90.1% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 2,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 172.7% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 2,135 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 51.25% of the company’s stock.

Alerus Financial Price Performance

Shares of ALRS remained flat at $31.11 during trading hours on Friday. The stock had a trading volume of 244,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 275,526. The firm has a market cap of $781.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.20 and a beta of 0.68. Alerus Financial has a 1 year low of $20.26 and a 1 year high of $31.85. The company’s 50-day moving average is $28.55 and its 200 day moving average is $25.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.31. Alerus Financial had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 6.74%.The business had revenue of $75.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.78 million. On average, research analysts expect that Alerus Financial will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alerus Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 26th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 26th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from Alerus Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 85.44%.

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.