Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) Director Acquires $32,450.00 in Stock

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) Director Jeffrey Bolton bought 1,000 shares of Alerus Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.45 per share, with a total value of $32,450.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $492,039.35. This trade represents a 7.06% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Alerus Financial Trading Up 1.3%

ALRS stock opened at $33.79 on Friday. Alerus Financial has a 52 week low of $20.31 and a 52 week high of $34.40. The company has a market capitalization of $842.38 million, a PE ratio of 31.88 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The business 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alerus Financial will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Alerus Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 25th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 25th. Alerus Financial’s payout ratio is presently 83.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALRS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of Alerus Financial in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Alerus Financial from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. DA Davidson set a $36.00 target price on Alerus Financial in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research lowered Alerus Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Alerus Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.50.

Institutional Trading of Alerus Financial

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alerus Financial by 90.1% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Alerus Financial by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its stake in Alerus Financial by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 2,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Alerus Financial during the third quarter worth $52,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $73,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.25% of the company’s stock.

About Alerus Financial

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.