Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) Upgraded to Outperform at Raymond James

Raymond James upgraded shares of Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Raymond James currently has $24.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on ALRS. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Alerus Financial from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Alerus Financial from $22.50 to $24.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Alerus Financial from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $23.40.

Alerus Financial Stock Down 3.4 %

Alerus Financial stock opened at $22.06 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $436.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.02 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $21.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Alerus Financial has a 52 week low of $16.80 and a 52 week high of $25.85.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $80.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.20 million. Alerus Financial had a return on equity of 7.25% and a net margin of 2.39%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Alerus Financial will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Alerus Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 163.27%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alerus Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALRS. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Alerus Financial by 380.7% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,203 shares during the last quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $81,000. Bailard Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial in the second quarter valued at $265,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alerus Financial by 4,147.8% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 26,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $573,000 after buying an additional 25,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial in the first quarter valued at $638,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.