Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) Shares Gap Down - Time to Sell?

Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC - Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $51.99, but opened at $50.39. Enterprise Financial Services shares last traded at $50.33, with a volume of 10,603 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Enterprise Financial Services from $69.00 to $66.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. DA Davidson reduced 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 report on Wednesday.

Enterprise Financial Services Stock Performance

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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $52.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.07.

Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The bank reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.14. Enterprise Financial Services had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 20.12%. The company had revenue of $18.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $162.83 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Enterprise Financial Services Corp will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Financial Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a positive change from Enterprise Financial Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Enterprise Financial Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.53%.

Insider Transactions at Enterprise Financial Services

In other news, Director James M. Havel sold 5,525 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 15,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $903,186.09. This represents a 26.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 2.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enterprise Financial Services

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 83.6% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,252 shares of the bank's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Enterprise Financial Services in the first quarter valued at about $341,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Enterprise Financial Services by 11.4% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,214 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962 shares during the period. KBC Group NV bought a new stake in Enterprise Financial Services during the 1st quarter worth about $117,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 53.9% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,232 shares of the bank's stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.21% of the company's stock.

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.