Wall Street Zen Upgrades Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) to "Buy"

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen has upgraded Alerus Financial (NASDAQ: ALRS) from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating, indicating a positive outlook on the company's stock performance.
• Analysts have increased their price targets for Alerus Financial, with Raymond James raising it to $27.00, showing growing confidence in the company's financial health.
• Alerus Financial reported better-than-expected earnings for the last quarter, with an Earnings Per Share (EPS) of $0.72, surpassing estimates by $0.16 and indicating strong revenue growth.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Alerus Financial from $24.00 to $25.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Alerus Financial from $20.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Alerus Financial from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $27.00 price target (up from $24.00) on shares of Alerus Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $25.63.

Alerus Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ALRS traded up $0.85 during trading on Friday, hitting $21.57. 83,561 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 76,418. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market cap of $547.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.76 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $21.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.37. Alerus Financial has a 52-week low of $15.78 and a 52-week high of $24.41.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.16. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 11.06% and a return on equity of 10.21%. The firm had revenue of $74.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $69.96 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Alerus Financial will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Alerus Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 27th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. This is a positive change from Alerus Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 27th. Alerus Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alerus Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 120.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 666,559 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,824,000 after acquiring an additional 363,617 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial during the first quarter worth approximately $6,040,000. Rhino Investment Partners Inc purchased a new position in Alerus Financial in the fourth quarter worth $5,849,000. FJ Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Alerus Financial in the fourth quarter worth $5,557,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Alerus Financial by 2,346.3% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 287,931 shares of the company's stock worth $5,540,000 after acquiring an additional 276,161 shares in the last quarter. 51.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Alerus Financial

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.