Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $26.00.

ALRS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Alerus Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Hovde Group lowered Alerus Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Alerus Financial from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Alerus Financial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $29.00 price objective on Alerus Financial and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th.

Alerus Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ ALRS traded down $0.46 during trading on Friday, hitting $23.70. 14,068 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 137,812. The company has a market capitalization of $601.98 million, a P/E ratio of 35.90 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Alerus Financial has a 12-month low of $15.78 and a 12-month high of $26.32.

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

Alerus Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alerus Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its stake in Alerus Financial by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 2,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Gator Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Gator Capital Management LLC now owns 65,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,473,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position 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 worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 33,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $734,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.