Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $23.40.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ALRS shares. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Alerus Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Alerus Financial from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price target (up previously from $22.00) on shares of Alerus Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Alerus Financial from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alerus Financial

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Alerus Financial by 120.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 666,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,824,000 after purchasing an additional 363,617 shares during the period. Rhino Investment Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Alerus Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $5,849,000. FJ Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,557,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Alerus Financial by 2,346.3% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 287,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,540,000 after acquiring an additional 276,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. purchased a new stake in Alerus Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,966,000. 51.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alerus Financial Price Performance

ALRS stock opened at $21.22 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $20.32 and a 200-day moving average of $21.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $537.82 million, a P/E ratio of 20.81 and a beta of 0.71. Alerus Financial has a 12 month low of $17.99 and a 12 month high of $24.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.16. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 6.26% and a return on equity of 7.66%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Alerus Financial will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alerus Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Alerus Financial’s payout ratio is currently 78.43%.

About Alerus Financial

Alerus Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Alerus Financial, National Association that engages in the provision of various financial services to businesses and consumers. The company operates in four segments: Banking, Mortgage, Retirement and Benefit Services, and Wealth Management.