Alerus Financial Co. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.20 (NASDAQ:ALRS)

Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, August 20th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.20 per share on Friday, October 11th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th.

Alerus Financial has raised its dividend by an average of 7.7% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Alerus Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 33.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Alerus Financial to earn $2.26 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.4%.

Alerus Financial Stock Performance

ALRS opened at $21.04 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alerus Financial has a 12-month low of $16.80 and a 12-month high of $25.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $21.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $416.11 million, a PE ratio of 42.94 and a beta of 0.66.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.06). Alerus Financial had a return on equity of 7.25% and a net margin of 2.39%. The business had revenue of $80.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.20 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Alerus Financial will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on ALRS shares. Hovde Group upgraded Alerus Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Alerus Financial from $22.50 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Alerus Financial from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Alerus Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alerus Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.25.

Alerus Financial Company Profile

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.