Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $23.40.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Alerus Financial from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Alerus Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Alerus Financial from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective (up from $22.00) on shares of Alerus Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

Alerus Financial Price Performance

Shares of ALRS stock opened at $18.29 on Tuesday. Alerus Financial has a 12-month low of $17.95 and a 12-month high of $24.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $463.43 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.93 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $20.20 and a 200-day moving average of $21.27.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.16. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 6.26% and a return on equity of 7.66%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alerus Financial will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Alerus Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.37%. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alerus Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 457.6% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,277 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 31.9% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 41.7% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 6,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the period. 51.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Alerus Financial

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.