Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen cut Alerus Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective on shares of Alerus Financial in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. DA Davidson set a $36.00 price objective on Alerus Financial in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Alerus Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Alerus Financial from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.50.

Alerus Financial Stock Performance

Shares of ALRS opened at $32.77 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $32.00 and a 200-day moving average of $27.94. Alerus Financial has a one year low of $20.31 and a one year high of $34.40. The company has a market cap of $815.97 million, a PE ratio of 30.92 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last released 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 company had revenue of $80.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $76.99 million. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 14.41%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Alerus Financial will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Alerus Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ALRS. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Alerus Financial by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Alerus Financial by 90.1% in the 2nd 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 period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Alerus Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $73,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $52,000. Institutional investors 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.