Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $28.72 and last traded at $28.54, with a volume of 9283 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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 lifted their target price on shares of Alerus Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Alerus Financial from $28.00 to $28.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Alerus Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Alerus Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.38.

Alerus Financial Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $712.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.54 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $25.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.06.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last released 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. The company had revenue of $75.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.78 million. Alerus Financial had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 6.74%. Analysts expect that Alerus Financial will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alerus Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 26th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. This is a positive change from Alerus Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 26th. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alerus Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 1.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,101,000 after buying an additional 16,779 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Alerus Financial by 6.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 886,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,027,000 after purchasing an additional 56,763 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Alerus Financial by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 603,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,591,000 after purchasing an additional 23,403 shares during the period. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 516,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,632,000 after buying an additional 2,597 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Alerus Financial by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 476,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,819,000 after buying an additional 4,284 shares during the period. 51.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Alerus Financial Company 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.