Alerus Financial $ALRS Shares Newly Bought by Bank of America Corp DE

Key Points

• Bank of America initiated a position in Alerus Financial during the second quarter, buying 39,437 shares worth approximately $1.23 million. Institutional investors now own 51.25% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is mostly neutral: six analysts rate the stock Hold and one rates it Buy, with an average price target of $35.50. Recent target increases from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and Piper Sandler were offset by several rating downgrades to Hold.
• Alerus reported quarterly EPS of $0.80, beating estimates of $0.77, while revenue reached $80 million versus expectations of $76.99 million. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, representing a 2.8% yield.

Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 39,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,226,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.16% of Alerus Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Alerus Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,873,000. Odyssean LLC purchased a new position in Alerus Financial during the second quarter worth about $584,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Alerus Financial during the second quarter worth about $585,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Alerus Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $73,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Alerus Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $207,000. 51.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ALRS shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Alerus Financial from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Alerus Financial from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Alerus Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Alerus Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Alerus Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $35.50.

Alerus Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ALRS opened at $31.73 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $33.02 and a 200 day moving average of $29.60. The company has a market capitalization of $791.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.93 and a beta of 0.69. Alerus Financial has a 1-year low of $20.31 and a 1-year high of $34.40. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $80.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $76.99 million. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 14.41%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alerus Financial will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alerus Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Investors of record on Friday, September 25th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 25th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Alerus Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.02%.

Insider Activity at Alerus Financial

In other Alerus Financial news, Director Jeffrey Bolton bought 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $32.45 per share, for a total transaction of $32,450.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,163 shares in the company, valued at $492,039.35. This trade represents a 7.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 4.30% of the company's stock.

Alerus Financial Profile

Alerus Financial Corporation is a financial services company and bank holding company headquartered in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Its principal subsidiary, Alerus Financial, National Association, provides banking, wealth management, retirement and employee-benefit services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions.

The company offers consumer and commercial deposit accounts, personal and business lending, mortgage banking, treasury management and related banking services. Through its wealth management and retirement businesses, Alerus provides investment management, trust and fiduciary services, retirement-plan administration, financial planning and benefit-account solutions, including health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts.

Alerus traces its history to 1933 and serves customers through offices and business operations in parts of Minnesota, North Dakota and Arizona, as well as through digital channels.

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