Enterprise Financial Services Corporation $EFSC Shares Sold by Earnest Partners LLC

Earnest Partners LLC decreased its holdings in Enterprise Financial Services Corporation (NASDAQ:EFSC) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,848,381 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 34,974 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC owned about 0.05% of Enterprise Financial Services worth $99,332,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services during the 1st quarter worth $22,901,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,314,377 shares of the bank’s stock worth $124,375,000 after purchasing an additional 225,369 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 430,662 shares of the bank’s stock worth $24,289,000 after purchasing an additional 107,996 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services during the 1st quarter worth $4,771,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 911,911 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,006,000 after purchasing an additional 63,972 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Enterprise Financial Services

In related news, CEO James Brian Lally sold 1,828 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.16, for a total transaction of $100,832.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 100,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,564,816.60. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael E. Finn purchased 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $54.11 per share, with a total value of $81,165.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $162,330. This represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Enterprise Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of EFSC opened at $61.05 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.81. Enterprise Financial Services Corporation has a 12-month low of $45.22 and a 12-month high of $63.13.

Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $176.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $166.82 million. Enterprise Financial Services had a net margin of 21.28% and a return on equity of 11.19%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Enterprise Financial Services Corporation will post 4.97 EPS for the current year.

Enterprise Financial Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Enterprise Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Enterprise Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EFSC. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Enterprise Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Enterprise Financial Services from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Enterprise Financial Services from $69.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $64.33.

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.