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

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $31.12 and last traded at $31.03, with a volume of 395235 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $30.82.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on ALRS shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Alerus Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Alerus Financial from $28.50 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Alerus Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Alerus Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research raised Alerus Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Two investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.25.

Alerus Financial Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $793.10 million, a P/E ratio of 30.64 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $28.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.56.

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

Alerus Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 26th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 26th. This is an increase from Alerus Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.44%.

Institutional Trading of Alerus Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alerus Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $1,195,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Alerus Financial by 4.2% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alerus Financial in the first quarter valued at about $441,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 29.7% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 28,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $622,000 after acquiring an additional 6,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Alerus Financial by 3.4% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 32,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,000 after acquiring an additional 1,072 shares during the period. 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.