Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $30.67 and last traded at $30.6320, with a volume of 7667 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $30.38.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALRS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alerus Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Alerus Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Alerus Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Alerus Financial from $28.00 to $28.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Alerus Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.38.

Alerus Financial Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $27.86 and a 200 day moving average of $25.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $769.73 million, a P/E ratio of 29.74 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $75.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.78 million. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 6.74% and a return on equity of 14.39%. Sell-side analysts predict that Alerus Financial will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Alerus Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Alerus Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 26th. Alerus Financial’s payout ratio is 81.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alerus Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Alerus Financial by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,101,000 after acquiring an additional 16,779 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Alerus Financial by 6.8% in the 1st 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 lifted its stake in shares of Alerus Financial by 4.0% in 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. boosted 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 valued at $11,632,000 after purchasing an additional 2,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in Alerus Financial by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 476,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,819,000 after purchasing an additional 4,284 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.25% of the company’s stock.

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.