DA Davidson Analysts Lift Earnings Estimates for Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS)

Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS) – Equities research analysts at DA Davidson upped their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for Alerus Financial in a note issued to investors on Thursday, August 1st. DA Davidson analyst J. Rulis now forecasts that the company will earn $1.20 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $1.15. DA Davidson has a “Neutral” rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Alerus Financial’s current full-year earnings is $1.20 per share.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.06). Alerus Financial had a net margin of 2.39% and a return on equity of 7.30%. The company had revenue of $80.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.20 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on ALRS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Alerus Financial from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Alerus Financial from $22.50 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Hovde Group upgraded Alerus Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alerus Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.25.

Alerus Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ALRS opened at $20.48 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $19.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.76. Alerus Financial has a 52 week low of $16.80 and a 52 week high of $25.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $405.03 million, a PE ratio of 41.80 and a beta of 0.66.

Alerus Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. This is a positive change from Alerus Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 163.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alerus Financial

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Alerus Financial by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 911,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,905,000 after buying an additional 13,637 shares in the last quarter. Cutler Capital Management LLC grew its position in Alerus Financial by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cutler Capital Management LLC now owns 157,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,526,000 after buying an additional 829 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Alerus Financial by 4.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 123,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,422,000 after buying an additional 5,323 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Alerus Financial during the first quarter worth approximately $1,711,000. Finally, Sippican Capital Advisors grew its position in Alerus Financial by 11.9% during the first quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 67,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,471,000 after buying an additional 7,185 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.25% of the company’s stock.

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.