Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

ALRS has been the subject of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Alerus Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Alerus Financial from $25.50 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Alerus Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, January 5th. Hovde Group downgraded shares of Alerus Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Alerus Financial from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alerus Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.00.

Alerus Financial Stock Performance

Shares of ALRS opened at $24.62 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.23. The stock has a market cap of $625.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.30 and a beta of 0.66. Alerus Financial has a 52 week low of $15.78 and a 52 week high of $25.00.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 13.38% and a net margin of 4.36%.The company had revenue of $77.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $71.43 million. On average, analysts expect that Alerus Financial will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Alerus Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 9th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 26th. Alerus Financial’s payout ratio is currently 127.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alerus Financial

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Thompson Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Alerus Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $52,000. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in Alerus Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Alerus Financial by 172.7% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.25% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Alerus Financial

Here are the key news stories impacting Alerus Financial this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Alerus from “hold” to a “strong-buy,” signaling stronger buy-side interest and likely contributing to demand for the shares. Zacks Upgrade Coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat expectations — EPS $0.85 vs. $0.57 consensus and revenue above estimates — reinforcing the view of improving fundamentals and helping justify higher valuations. Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: DA Davidson raised its price target from $25 to $26 (maintaining a “neutral” rating) — the higher target implies modest upside and supports near-term price appreciation. DA Davidson Note
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks added ALRS to its Rank #1 (Strong Buy) value stocks list, which can attract value-oriented investors and increase buying interest. Zacks Rank #1
• Neutral Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its target from $24 to $25 and kept a “market perform” rating — a small lift but not a definitive buy signal. KBW Note Coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Company earnings call materials and transcript discuss strategic deleveraging and other execution items — useful for longer-term thesis but broader impact depends on follow-through. Call Highlights Transcript Presentation

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.