Empowered Funds LLC Invests $1.95 Million in Alerus Financial $ALRS

Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 82,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,951,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Alerus Financial by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 90.1% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 2,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alerus Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Alerus Financial by 172.7% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 2,135 shares during the last quarter. 51.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ALRS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Alerus Financial from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research upgraded Alerus Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Alerus Financial in a research report on Monday. DA Davidson set a $36.00 target price on Alerus Financial in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Alerus Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Alerus Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

Alerus Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Alerus Financial stock opened at $33.59 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $31.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $836.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.69 and a beta of 0.68. Alerus Financial has a 52 week low of $20.31 and a 52 week high of $34.40. 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 (NASDAQ:ALRS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Alerus Financial had a return on equity of 14.41% and a net margin of 6.87%.The business had revenue of $80.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.99 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alerus Financial will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Alerus Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 26th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. This is an increase from Alerus Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 26th. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.02%.

Alerus Financial 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.