Alerus Financial (ALRS) Competitors

Alerus Financial (NASDAQ:ALRS) and Pathward Financial (NASDAQ:CASH) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their community ranking, valuation, dividends, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and profitability.

Is ALRS or CASH more profitable?

Pathward Financial has a net margin of 21.91% compared to Alerus Financial's net margin of 6.26%. Pathward Financial's return on equity of 22.02% beat Alerus Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alerus Financial	6.26%	7.66%	0.68%
Pathward Financial	21.91%	22.02%	2.28%

Which has better valuation & earnings, ALRS or CASH?

Pathward Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Alerus Financial. Pathward Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Alerus Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Alerus Financial	$215.87M	2.01	$21.07M	$1.02	16.67
Pathward Financial	$600.62M	2.79	$168.36M	$6.86	10.25

Which has more volatility & risk, ALRS or CASH?

Alerus Financial has a beta of 0.67, suggesting that its stock price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Pathward Financial has a beta of 0.44, suggesting that its stock price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ALRS or CASH a better dividend stock?

Alerus Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Pathward Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Alerus Financial pays out 78.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Pathward Financial pays out 2.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Alerus Financial has raised its dividend for 24 consecutive years. Alerus Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in ALRS or CASH?

Pathward Financial received 323 more outperform votes than Alerus Financial when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.98% of users gave Pathward Financial an outperform vote while only 23.91% of users gave Alerus Financial an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Alerus Financial	Outperform Votes 11 23.91%	Underperform Votes 35 76.09%
Pathward Financial	Outperform Votes 334 63.98%	Underperform Votes 188 36.02%

Do analysts rate ALRS or CASH?

Alerus Financial currently has a consensus target price of $23.40, indicating a potential upside of 37.65%. Pathward Financial has a consensus target price of $90.50, indicating a potential upside of 28.68%. Given Alerus Financial's higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Alerus Financial is more favorable than Pathward Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alerus Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40
Pathward Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Does the media favor ALRS or CASH?

In the previous week, Pathward Financial had 8 more articles in the media than Alerus Financial. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for Pathward Financial and 3 mentions for Alerus Financial. Alerus Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.77 beat Pathward Financial's score of 1.43 indicating that Alerus Financial is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Alerus Financial	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Pathward Financial	10 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in ALRS or CASH?

51.3% of Alerus Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.7% of Pathward Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.6% of Alerus Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Pathward Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Pathward Financial beats Alerus Financial on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.