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

Shares of Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $30.50.

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

Alerus Financial Stock Up 1.7%

Alerus Financial stock opened at $30.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $775.76 million, a PE ratio of 29.97 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. Alerus Financial has a fifty-two week low of $20.26 and a fifty-two week high of $31.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $28.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.89.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.31. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 6.74% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $75.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.78 million. Research analysts expect that Alerus Financial will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 26th. This is an increase from Alerus Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ALRS. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial during the first quarter worth about $1,195,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 stake in shares of Alerus Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $441,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of 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 period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Alerus Financial by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 32,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,000 after buying an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.25% of the company’s stock.

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.