Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) Given Outperform Rating at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a $70.00 price objective on the bank’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $68.00.

Separately, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Enterprise Financial Services from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Enterprise Financial Services Price Performance

EFSC stock opened at $59.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $57.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.00. Enterprise Financial Services has a 1 year low of $37.28 and a 1 year high of $63.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.14. Enterprise Financial Services had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 19.73%. Equities analysts forecast that Enterprise Financial Services will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Financial Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Enterprise Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Enterprise Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 23.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Richard Sanborn sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.56, for a total value of $5,956,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 40,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,438,982. This trade represents a 70.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enterprise Financial Services

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 27.9% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 42,846 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,196,000 after purchasing an additional 9,345 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Enterprise Financial Services by 94.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 46,727 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,391,000 after buying an additional 22,739 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Enterprise Financial Services by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 892,030 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $45,734,000 after acquiring an additional 8,180 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Enterprise Financial Services by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 557,875 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,597,000 after acquiring an additional 29,747 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Enterprise Financial Services by 2.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 87,506 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,486,000 after acquiring an additional 2,452 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.21% of the company’s stock.

About Enterprise Financial Services

Enterprise Financial Services Corp operates as the holding company for Enterprise Bank & Trust that offers banking and wealth management services to individuals and corporate customers primarily in Arizona, California, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, and New Mexico. It provides checking, savings, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit.