Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS) to Issue $0.20 Quarterly Dividend

Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 12th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of 0.20 per share on Friday, January 17th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th.

Alerus Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 7.7% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Alerus Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 37.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Alerus Financial to earn $1.98 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 40.4%.

Alerus Financial Stock Down 0.8 %

ALRS stock traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $21.84. 50,068 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 60,758. The stock has a market cap of $553.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 137.63 and a beta of 0.69. Alerus Financial has a fifty-two week low of $18.09 and a fifty-two week high of $25.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $22.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $80.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.30 million. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 1.01% and a return on equity of 6.02%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Alerus Financial will post 0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ALRS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. Raymond James upgraded shares of Alerus Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Alerus Financial from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.20.

Alerus Financial Company Profile

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.