Principal Financial Group Inc. Makes New $711,000 Investment in Alerus Financial $ALRS

Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 29,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $711,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Phocas Financial Corp. increased its position in Alerus Financial by 102.2% during the 4th quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. now owns 334,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,530,000 after buying an additional 168,987 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Alerus Financial by 83.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 73,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after acquiring an additional 33,205 shares during the period. FJ Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Alerus Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,512,000. Johnson Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Alerus Financial in the 4th quarter worth $635,000. Finally, Gator Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Alerus Financial by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Gator Capital Management LLC now owns 65,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,473,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 51.25% of the company’s stock.

Alerus Financial Stock Down 0.9%

ALRS stock opened at $33.27 on Friday. Alerus Financial has a 12 month low of $20.26 and a 12 month high of $34.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $30.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.95. The company has a market cap of $836.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.39 and a beta of 0.68.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $80.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $76.99 million. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 6.87% and a return on equity of 14.53%. As a group, analysts forecast that Alerus Financial will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alerus Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 26th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from Alerus Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 26th. Alerus Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on ALRS shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Alerus Financial from $32.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Alerus Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Alerus Financial from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. DA Davidson set a $36.00 price target on shares of Alerus Financial in a report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Alerus Financial in a report on Thursday, July 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $34.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.75.

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.