Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $24.43 and last traded at $24.2450, with a volume of 26976 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $24.15.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALRS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Alerus Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Alerus Financial from $25.50 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Hovde Group downgraded shares of Alerus Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Alerus Financial in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Alerus Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $25.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alerus Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.00.

Alerus Financial Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $613.66 million, a PE ratio of 11.66 and a beta of 0.66.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $72.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $71.41 million. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 13.45% and a return on equity of 11.63%. Equities research analysts forecast that Alerus Financial will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Alerus Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.38%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alerus Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALRS. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 110.9% in the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 97,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,115,000 after buying an additional 51,405 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Alerus Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $201,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in shares of Alerus Financial during the second quarter valued at about $2,341,000. CSM Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alerus Financial during the second quarter valued at about $4,123,000. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial in the second quarter worth about $2,982,000. 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.