Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $30.67 and last traded at $30.6320, with a volume of 7667 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $30.38.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on ALRS shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Alerus Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Alerus Financial from $28.00 to $28.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research upgraded Alerus Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Alerus Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.38.

Alerus Financial Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.21. The stock has a market cap of $765.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.78 and a beta of 0.69. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $75.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.78 million. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 6.74% and a return on equity of 14.39%. Analysts forecast that Alerus Financial will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alerus Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 26th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 26th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Alerus Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alerus Financial’s payout ratio is presently 81.55%.

Institutional Trading of Alerus Financial

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 1.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,101,000 after purchasing an additional 16,779 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Alerus Financial by 6.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 886,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,027,000 after purchasing an additional 56,763 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Alerus Financial by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 603,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,591,000 after purchasing an additional 23,403 shares during the period. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Alerus Financial by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 516,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,632,000 after buying an additional 2,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in Alerus Financial by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 476,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,819,000 after buying an additional 4,284 shares in the last quarter. 51.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.