Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.28 EPS

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.28, FiscalAI reports. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 13.45% and a return on equity of 11.63%. The business had revenue of $77.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $71.43 million.

Alerus Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Alerus Financial stock traded down $0.17 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $23.80. 190,391 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 147,168. Alerus Financial has a 1 year low of $15.78 and a 1 year high of $25.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $604.45 million, a P/E ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Alerus Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALRS has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Alerus Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $25.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Alerus Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday. Hovde Group lowered Alerus Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Alerus Financial from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Alerus Financial from $25.50 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Alerus Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.00.

Institutional Trading of Alerus Financial

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alerus Financial by 90.1% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in Alerus Financial in the third quarter worth about $52,000. 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 worth $73,000 after buying an additional 2,135 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 648.1% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 3,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 259.2% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 3,139 shares in the last quarter. 51.25% of the stock is currently 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.