Johnson Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Alerus Financial $ALRS

Johnson Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 28,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $635,000. Alerus Financial comprises about 0.3% of Johnson Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Alerus Financial by 90.1% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Alerus Financial by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in Alerus Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $52,000. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,135 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.25% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALRS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Alerus Financial from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Alerus Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Alerus Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Alerus Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Alerus Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat, Alerus Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.38.

Alerus Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ALRS opened at $29.68 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $745.86 million, a PE ratio of 28.82 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Alerus Financial has a twelve month low of $20.26 and a twelve month high of $29.85.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $75.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.78 million. Alerus Financial had a return on equity of 14.39% and a net margin of 6.74%. On average, analysts anticipate that Alerus Financial will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Alerus Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 26th. This is a positive change from Alerus Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Alerus Financial’s payout ratio is 81.55%.

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.