Rhumbline Advisers Increases Position in Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS)

Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Alerus Financial Co. (NASDAQ:ALRS) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,143 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,746 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Alerus Financial were worth $599,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ALRS. Grace & White Inc. NY acquired a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial during the fourth quarter worth $4,930,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Alerus Financial by 70.8% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 80,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,543,000 after buying an additional 33,247 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in Alerus Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,620,000. Sippican Capital Advisors increased its stake in shares of Alerus Financial by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 85,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after acquiring an additional 4,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alerus Financial by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 20,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 2,717 shares during the period. 51.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALRS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Alerus Financial from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Alerus Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 target price (up from $22.00) on shares of Alerus Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Alerus Financial from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.40.

Alerus Financial Price Performance

Alerus Financial stock opened at $19.36 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $20.26 and a 200-day moving average of $21.40. Alerus Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $17.99 and a 52-week high of $24.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $490.54 million, a P/E ratio of 18.98 and a beta of 0.74.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.16. Alerus Financial had a return on equity of 7.66% and a net margin of 6.26%. As a group, analysts predict that Alerus Financial Co. will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Alerus Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.13%. Alerus Financial’s payout ratio is currently 78.43%.

About Alerus Financial

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.