Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) Upgraded by Zacks Research to Strong-Buy Rating

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on ALRS. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Alerus Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Alerus Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday. Hovde Group lowered shares of Alerus Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Alerus Financial from $25.50 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.00.

Alerus Financial Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ ALRS opened at $24.36 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $22.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.21. The stock has a market cap of $618.74 million, a P/E ratio of 36.91 and a beta of 0.66. Alerus Financial has a 52-week low of $15.78 and a 52-week high of $25.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $77.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $71.43 million. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 4.36% and a return on equity of 13.38%. Analysts expect that Alerus Financial will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Alerus Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders 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 3.4%. Alerus Financial’s payout ratio is currently 40.38%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alerus Financial

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thompson Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 90.1% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in Alerus Financial in the third quarter valued at about $52,000. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in Alerus Financial during the third quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,135 shares during the last quarter. 51.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Alerus Financial

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.