Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.31 EPS

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.31, FiscalAI reports. Alerus Financial had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 6.74%.The company had revenue of $75.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.78 million.

Alerus Financial Price Performance

Shares of Alerus Financial stock opened at $27.23 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $696.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.48 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.41. Alerus Financial has a 52 week low of $20.08 and a 52 week high of $27.34.

Alerus Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 27th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 27th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 127.27%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 1.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,101,000 after buying an additional 16,779 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Alerus Financial by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 830,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,692,000 after buying an additional 33,359 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Alerus Financial by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 603,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,591,000 after buying an additional 23,403 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Alerus Financial by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 476,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,819,000 after acquiring an additional 4,284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Alerus Financial by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 298,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,712,000 after acquiring an additional 80,599 shares during the last quarter. 51.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ALRS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded Alerus Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Raymond James Financial set a $29.00 price target on Alerus Financial and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $28.50 price target on shares of Alerus Financial in a research note on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Alerus Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alerus Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.13.

About Alerus Financial

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.