Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $35.75

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $35.75.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Alerus Financial from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Alerus Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Zacks Research lowered Alerus Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. DA Davidson set a $36.00 price target on shares of Alerus Financial in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Alerus Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Alerus Financial news, Director Jeffrey Bolton bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $32.45 per share, with a total value of $32,450.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 15,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $492,039.35. This represents a 7.06% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $56,672,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Alerus Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,869,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Alerus Financial during the second quarter valued at about $3,084,000. Fortress Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,063,000. Finally, Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Alerus Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,873,000. 51.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alerus Financial Stock Up 2.1%

Alerus Financial stock opened at $31.34 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Alerus Financial has a 1-year low of $20.31 and a 1-year high of $34.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.17. The company has a market capitalization of $781.31 million, a P/E ratio of 29.57 and a beta of 0.69.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $80.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.99 million. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 14.41%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alerus Financial will post 3.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alerus Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Friday, September 25th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 25th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.02%.

About Alerus Financial

Alerus Financial Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Through its primary subsidiary, Alerus Financial, N.A., the company provides banking, wealth management, retirement plan administration and mortgage services to individuals, families and businesses.

Its banking offerings include checking and savings accounts, consumer and commercial lending, treasury management and other deposit services. Alerus also provides investment advisory, trust and private wealth management services, as well as employee retirement plan recordkeeping, administration and advisory solutions.