Phocas Financial Corp. Raises Holdings in Alerus Financial $ALRS

Phocas Financial Corp. increased its position in Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) by 102.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 334,357 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 168,987 shares during the period. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in Alerus Financial were worth $7,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake 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 worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 33,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $734,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 2.3% in the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 33,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $731,000 after purchasing an additional 749 shares in the last quarter. 51.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alerus Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ALRS opened at $23.84 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $609.35 million, a PE ratio of 36.12 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.00. Alerus Financial has a 1 year low of $15.78 and a 1 year high of $26.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.28. Alerus Financial had a return on equity of 13.18% and a net margin of 4.36%.The firm had revenue of $77.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $71.43 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Alerus Financial will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Alerus Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 27th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 27th. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 127.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ALRS shares. Hovde Group downgraded shares of Alerus Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Alerus Financial from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Alerus Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Alerus Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Alerus Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alerus Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.00.

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.