Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Alerus Financial from a "hold" to a "sell" on Saturday, while the broader analyst consensus remains a "Hold" with a $26.00 consensus target price (one Strong Buy, six Holds).
• Alerus beat expectations for the quarter—$0.85 EPS vs. $0.57 expected and $77.07M revenue vs. $71.43M expected—and trades around $25.47 with a market cap near $651M and a P/E of about 38.6.
• Institutional investors own roughly 51.25% of the company, with recent position increases reported by Wellington, HSBC, Man Group and several other funds.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Alerus Financial from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Alerus Financial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered Alerus Financial from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research lowered Alerus Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $29.00 price objective on Alerus Financial and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Alerus Financial Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:ALRS opened at $25.47 on Friday. Alerus Financial has a 1 year low of $17.40 and a 1 year high of $26.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $651.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.59 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business's 50 day moving average price is $24.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.27.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.28. Alerus Financial had a return on equity of 13.18% and a net margin of 4.36%.The firm had revenue of $77.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $71.43 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Alerus Financial will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Alerus Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 21,677 shares of the company's stock worth $514,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 43.0% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 46,666 shares of the company's stock worth $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 14,026 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 35.2% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 15,363 shares of the company's stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 4,002 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 245,497 shares of the company's stock worth $5,529,000 after purchasing an additional 19,490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc increased its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 64,111 shares of the company's stock worth $1,444,000 after purchasing an additional 13,070 shares during the last quarter. 51.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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