Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) Given New $24.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) had its price objective lowered by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $25.00 to $24.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the stock.

ALRS has been the topic of several other reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Alerus Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $27.00 target price (up from $24.00) on shares of Alerus Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Alerus Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 17th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Alerus Financial from $24.00 to $25.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Alerus Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.38.

Alerus Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ALRS opened at $21.12 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.54. Alerus Financial has a fifty-two week low of $15.78 and a fifty-two week high of $24.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $536.45 million, a P/E ratio of 10.15 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.07. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 13.45% and a return on equity of 11.84%. The business had revenue of $72.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $71.41 million. On average, analysts predict that Alerus Financial will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Alerus Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Friday, September 26th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 26th. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.38%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alerus Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 13.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,194,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,046,000 after acquiring an additional 139,435 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 4.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 561,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,150,000 after acquiring an additional 23,112 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial during the first quarter worth $6,040,000. Choreo LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 3.1% during the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 294,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,391,000 after acquiring an additional 8,727 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 265.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 236,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,123,000 after acquiring an additional 171,984 shares during the period. 51.25% of the stock is currently 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.