Phocas Financial Corp. Grows Position in Alerus Financial $ALRS

Phocas Financial Corp. raised its stake in shares of Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) by 102.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 334,357 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 168,987 shares during the period. Phocas Financial Corp. owned 1.32% of Alerus Financial worth $7,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alerus Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,195,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Alerus Financial by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in Alerus Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $441,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Alerus Financial by 29.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 28,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $622,000 after acquiring an additional 6,575 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in Alerus Financial by 3.4% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 32,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $698,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ALRS shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Alerus Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Alerus Financial from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Hovde Group cut shares of Alerus Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Alerus Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $29.00 price target on Alerus Financial and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.00.

Alerus Financial Stock Performance

ALRS stock opened at $23.84 on Monday. Alerus Financial has a 1-year low of $15.78 and a 1-year high of $26.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $609.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.12 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.00.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $71.43 million. Research analysts anticipate that Alerus Financial will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alerus Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 27th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 27th. Alerus Financial’s payout ratio is currently 127.27%.

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.