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

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $24.50 and last traded at $24.50, with a volume of 109177 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $23.40.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ALRS shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Alerus Financial in a report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Alerus Financial from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Zacks Research cut shares of Alerus Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Hovde Group downgraded shares of Alerus Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Alerus Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $25.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.00.

Alerus Financial Trading Up 4.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $22.60 and a 200-day moving average of $22.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $622.30 million, a P/E ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 0.66.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $72.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $71.41 million. Alerus Financial had a return on equity of 11.63% and a net margin of 13.45%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Alerus Financial will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alerus Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alerus Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ALRS. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 110.9% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 97,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,115,000 after buying an additional 51,405 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Alerus Financial in the second quarter worth $201,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new stake in Alerus Financial in the second quarter valued at $2,341,000. CSM Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Alerus Financial in the second quarter valued at $4,123,000. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new position in Alerus Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,982,000. 51.25% of the stock is 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.