Alerus Financial $ALRS Holdings Boosted by Phocas Financial Corp.

Phocas Financial Corp. boosted its holdings in Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) by 102.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 334,357 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 168,987 shares during the period. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in Alerus Financial were worth $7,530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ALRS. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Alerus Financial in the first quarter worth about $1,195,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Alerus Financial by 4.2% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in Alerus Financial in the first quarter worth about $441,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Alerus Financial by 29.7% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 28,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $622,000 after acquiring an additional 6,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in Alerus Financial by 3.4% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 32,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,000 after acquiring an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.25% of the company’s stock.

Alerus Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ALRS opened at $25.20 on Wednesday. Alerus Financial has a 12 month low of $16.29 and a 12 month high of $26.32. The stock has a market cap of $644.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.18 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $24.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.28. Alerus Financial had a return on equity of 13.18% and a net margin of 4.36%.The firm had revenue of $77.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $71.43 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alerus Financial will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Alerus Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 27th were given a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 27th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Alerus Financial’s payout ratio is 127.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ALRS. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Alerus Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Zacks Research cut Alerus Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Raymond James Financial set a $29.00 price objective on Alerus Financial and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Alerus Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Alerus Financial from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alerus Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.00.

Alerus Financial Company Profile

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.