Piper Sandler Issues Positive Forecast for Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) Stock Price

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) had its price objective increased by Piper Sandler from $21.00 to $24.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on ALRS. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Alerus Financial in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Alerus Financial from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.40.

Alerus Financial Stock Up 2.0 %

ALRS stock opened at $21.37 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Alerus Financial has a 52 week low of $17.99 and a 52 week high of $24.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $541.52 million, a PE ratio of 133.57 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $20.44 and a 200 day moving average of $21.48.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.16. Alerus Financial had a return on equity of 6.02% and a net margin of 1.01%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Alerus Financial will post 0.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Alerus Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. Alerus Financial’s payout ratio is presently 500.03%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alerus Financial

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 2.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 274,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,384,000 after purchasing an additional 7,300 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in shares of Alerus Financial by 191.1% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 46,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $919,000 after acquiring an additional 30,750 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial in the third quarter valued at $142,000. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alerus Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $417,000. Finally, Sippican Capital Advisors boosted its position in shares of Alerus Financial by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 80,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 3,665 shares in the last quarter. 51.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alerus Financial Company Profile

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.