Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $32.68 and last traded at $32.6650, with a volume of 61790 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $32.17.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ALRS shares. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Alerus Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Alerus Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of 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 shares of Alerus Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on Alerus Financial in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $34.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.50.

Alerus Financial Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $820.87 million, a P/E ratio of 31.71 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.57.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $75.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.78 million. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 6.74% and a return on equity of 14.39%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Alerus Financial will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Alerus Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 26th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is a positive change from Alerus Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 26th. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Alerus Financial by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,101,000 after acquiring an additional 16,779 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Alerus Financial by 6.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 886,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,027,000 after purchasing an additional 56,763 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 603,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,591,000 after buying an additional 23,403 shares during the last quarter. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Alerus Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 516,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,632,000 after acquiring an additional 2,597 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Alerus Financial by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 476,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,819,000 after purchasing an additional 4,284 shares during 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.