Alerus Financial Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.21 (NASDAQ:ALRS)

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a dividend of 0.21 per share on Friday, January 9th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 26th.

Alerus Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 25 years. Alerus Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 35.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Alerus Financial to earn $2.43 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.6%.

Alerus Financial Trading Down 1.2%

Alerus Financial stock opened at $22.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $561.34 million, a PE ratio of 10.63 and a beta of 0.70. Alerus Financial has a 12 month low of $15.78 and a 12 month high of $24.33. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.07. Alerus Financial had a net margin of 13.45% and a return on equity of 11.63%. The firm had revenue of $72.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $71.41 million. Analysts anticipate that Alerus Financial will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alerus Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ALRS. Thompson Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Alerus Financial by 90.1% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Alerus Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $52,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial during the first quarter worth $49,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Alerus Financial in the third quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.25% of the company’s stock.

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.