Enterprise Financial Services’ (EFSC) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued their outperform rating on shares of Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $70.00 target price on the bank’s stock, up from their previous target price of $68.00.

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

Enterprise Financial Services Stock Performance

EFSC opened at $59.94 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 1.00. Enterprise Financial Services has a 1 year low of $37.28 and a 1 year high of $63.13.

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

Enterprise Financial Services Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Enterprise Financial Services

In other Enterprise Financial Services news, Director Richard Sanborn sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.56, for a total value of $5,956,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 40,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,438,982. The trade was a 70.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enterprise Financial Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFSC. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Enterprise Financial Services by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 123,282 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,953,000 after purchasing an additional 5,954 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 566,780 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,966,000 after purchasing an additional 125,150 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,141 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $403,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Enterprise Financial Services by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 557,875 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,597,000 after buying an additional 29,747 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.