Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold”

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on ALRS. Raymond James Financial set a $29.00 price target on shares of Alerus Financial and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Alerus Financial from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Hovde Group lowered Alerus Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Zacks Research upgraded Alerus Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Alerus Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.00.

Alerus Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ ALRS opened at $23.88 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.81. 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 has a 1 year low of $15.78 and a 1 year high of $26.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $606.55 million, a PE ratio of 36.18 and a beta of 0.63.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.28. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 4.36% and a return on equity of 13.18%. The firm had revenue of $77.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $71.43 million. Analysts predict that Alerus Financial will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alerus Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 90.1% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Alerus Financial by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 2,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Alerus Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in shares of Alerus Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 51.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.