Alerus Financial $ALRS Shares Bought by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) by 349.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 28,981 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 22,530 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.11% of Alerus Financial worth $642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of ALRS. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 37.3% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 3,284 shares in the last quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors grew its position in Alerus Financial by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 111,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in Alerus Financial by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 72,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 7,705 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in Alerus Financial by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 20,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 2,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised 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 buying an additional 2,135 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Alerus Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Alerus Financial from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial set a $29.00 price objective on Alerus Financial and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Alerus Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Alerus Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Alerus Financial Stock Performance

Shares of ALRS stock opened at $25.30 on Wednesday. Alerus Financial has a 52-week low of $15.78 and a 52-week high of $26.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market cap of $642.62 million, a PE ratio of 38.33 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.40.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.28. Alerus Financial had a return on equity of 13.38% and a net margin of 4.36%.The firm had revenue of $77.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $71.43 million. On average, equities analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. Alerus Financial’s payout ratio is 127.27%.

Alerus Financial 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.