Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) Rating Increased to Moderate Buy at Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) to a moderate buy rating in a research note published on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

ALRS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Alerus Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Alerus Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Alerus Financial from $28.50 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Alerus Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Alerus Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Alerus Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.50.

Alerus Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ ALRS opened at $30.87 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.89. The company has a market capitalization of $775.76 million, a PE ratio of 29.97 and a beta of 0.68. Alerus Financial has a 1 year low of $20.26 and a 1 year high of $31.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.31. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 6.74% and a return on equity of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $75.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.78 million. As a group, analysts expect that Alerus Financial will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Alerus Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a positive change from Alerus Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 26th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 85.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Phocas Financial Corp. boosted its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 102.2% during the 4th quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. now owns 334,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,530,000 after purchasing an additional 168,987 shares in the last quarter. Gator Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial in the third quarter valued at about $1,437,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Alerus Financial by 83.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 73,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 33,205 shares during the period. FJ Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alerus Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $1,512,000. Finally, Johnson Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alerus Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $635,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.25% of the company’s stock.

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.