Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also commented on ALRS. Weiss Ratings lowered Alerus Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Alerus Financial from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Hovde Group downgraded shares of Alerus Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Raymond James Financial set a $29.00 price objective on shares of Alerus Financial and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Alerus Financial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.00.

Alerus Financial Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ ALRS opened at $23.88 on Friday. Alerus Financial has a 52-week low of $15.78 and a 52-week high of $26.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.90. The business has a fifty day moving average of $24.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.82. The stock has a market cap of $606.55 million, a PE ratio of 36.18 and a beta of 0.63.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $77.07 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $71.43 million. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 4.36% and a return on equity of 13.18%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alerus Financial will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alerus Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 27th. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 127.27%.

Institutional Trading of Alerus Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALRS. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Alerus Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,195,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 546 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial during the first quarter worth approximately $441,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alerus Financial by 110.9% during the second 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. Finally, CSM Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Alerus Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,123,000. 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.