Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,233 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Enterprise Financial Services were worth $1,762,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in Enterprise Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in Enterprise Financial Services by 2,593.5% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 835 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Enterprise Financial Services in the third quarter valued at about $102,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in Enterprise Financial Services by 34.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 653 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Enterprise Financial Services by 169.7% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,452 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.21% of the company’s stock.

Enterprise Financial Services Price Performance

EFSC stock opened at $59.17 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $58.24 and a 200-day moving average of $55.74. Enterprise Financial Services Corp has a 12-month low of $37.28 and a 12-month high of $63.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 0.99.

Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 20.12% and a return on equity of 10.94%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Enterprise Financial Services Corp will post 4.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Financial Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This is an increase from Enterprise Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Enterprise Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 23.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James M. Havel sold 5,525 shares of Enterprise Financial Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total transaction of $323,046.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,447 shares in the company, valued at $903,186.09. The trade was a 26.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on EFSC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Enterprise Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Enterprise Financial Services from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th.

Enterprise Financial Services Company Profile

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.