Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Strength Seen in Alerus (ALRS): Can Its 8.8% Jump Turn into More Strength?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Alerus (ALRS - Free Report) shares rallied 8.8% in the last trading session to close at $20.87. This move can be attributable to notable volume with a higher number of shares being traded than in a typical session. This compares to the stock's 0.4% gain over the past four weeks.

After 11 interest rate hikes, the Fed's decision to pause rate hikes for the third month drove bullish sentiments across markets amid the optimism of easing inflation pressures. With this, the interest rates remain at a 22-year high of 5.25-5.5%. Further, the central bank indicated three interest rate cuts by 2024-end. These developments turned investor sentiment bullish on finance stocks, as high funding costs faced by the industry players are expected to decline in the next year. Hence, the ALRS stock gained.

This company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.29 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -45.3%. Revenues are expected to be $45 million, down 14.3% from the year-ago quarter.

While earnings and revenue growth expectations are important in evaluating the potential strength in a stock, empirical research shows a strong correlation between trends in earnings estimate revisions and near-term stock price movements.

For Alerus, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. And a stock's price usually doesn't keep moving higher in the absence of any trend in earnings estimate revisions. So, make sure to keep an eye on ALRS going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

Alerus belongs to the Zacks Financial - Miscellaneous Services industry. Another stock from the same industry, Virtu Financial (VIRT - Free Report) , closed the last trading session 2.6% higher at $20.08. Over the past month, VIRT has returned 10.6%.

Virtu Financial's consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has changed -7.9% over the past month to $0.49. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of +32.4%. Virtu Financial currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Virtu Financial, Inc. (VIRT) - free report >>

Alerus Financial (ALRS) - free report >>

Published in