AlphaQuest LLC Grows Position in Enterprise Financial Services Corporation $EFSC

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC sharply increased its stake in Enterprise Financial Services Corp. by 250.1% in the fourth quarter, buying an additional 35,611 shares and bringing its total to 49,847 shares valued at about $2.69 million.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with hedge funds and other institutional investors holding 72.21% of EFSC shares. Several firms, including Thrivent Financial and Wellington Management, also boosted their positions.
• EFSC reported mixed recent fundamentals: it beat quarterly EPS expectations at $1.31, raised its dividend to $0.34 per share, and has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $66.00.

AlphaQuest LLC increased its position in Enterprise Financial Services Corporation (NASDAQ:EFSC - Free Report) by 250.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,847 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 35,611 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Enterprise Financial Services worth $2,692,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in EFSC. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 146.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 969,533 shares of the bank's stock valued at $56,213,000 after purchasing an additional 576,655 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Enterprise Financial Services by 8.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,622,760 shares of the bank's stock valued at $152,068,000 after buying an additional 207,256 shares during the last quarter. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Enterprise Financial Services by 109.8% during the fourth quarter. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 185,240 shares of the bank's stock valued at $10,003,000 after buying an additional 96,926 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Enterprise Financial Services by 18.5% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 363,587 shares of the bank's stock valued at $21,081,000 after buying an additional 56,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Visionary Wealth Advisors raised its stake in Enterprise Financial Services by 1,009.4% during the second quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 57,989 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,195,000 after buying an additional 52,762 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.21% of the company's stock.

Enterprise Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of EFSC opened at $61.46 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Enterprise Financial Services Corporation has a one year low of $51.18 and a one year high of $62.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a fifty day moving average of $57.29 and a 200 day moving average of $56.50.

Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $113.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.02 million. Enterprise Financial Services had a return on equity of 10.35% and a net margin of 19.81%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Enterprise Financial Services Corporation will post 5.55 EPS for the current year.

Enterprise Financial Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This is a positive change from Enterprise Financial Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Enterprise Financial Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Enterprise Financial Services from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Enterprise Financial Services from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Enterprise Financial Services from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Enterprise Financial Services from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Enterprise Financial Services from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $66.00.

Insider Activity at Enterprise Financial Services

In other news, EVP Mark G. Ponder sold 1,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.55, for a total value of $75,687.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 23,526 shares in the company, valued at $1,424,499.30. The trade was a 5.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Enterprise Financial Services Company Profile

Enterprise Financial Services Corp. NASDAQ: EFSC is a bank holding company headquartered in Clayton, Missouri, operating through its primary subsidiary, Enterprise Bank & Trust. The company provides a comprehensive range of banking and financial services to individuals, small- and mid-sized businesses, and institutional clients. Its capabilities encompass deposit products, lending solutions, mortgage banking, and treasury management, supported by a full suite of digital banking tools and personalized client service.

In its commercial banking segment, Enterprise Bank & Trust offers lines of credit, equipment financing, commercial real estate loans, construction lending and agriculture lending.

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