Denali Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Enterprise Financial Services Corporation (NASDAQ:EFSC)

Denali Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Enterprise Financial Services Corporation (NASDAQ:EFSC - Free Report) by 5.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 114,948 shares of the bank's stock after selling 7,044 shares during the quarter. Denali Advisors LLC owned about 0.31% of Enterprise Financial Services worth $6,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of EFSC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,215,368 shares of the bank's stock valued at $124,947,000 after acquiring an additional 54,987 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Enterprise Financial Services by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,089,008 shares of the bank's stock valued at $117,820,000 after buying an additional 13,724 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 847,939 shares of the bank's stock valued at $47,824,000 after purchasing an additional 96,822 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Enterprise Financial Services by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 572,082 shares of the bank's stock worth $30,744,000 after acquiring an additional 5,302 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Enterprise Financial Services by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 565,314 shares of the bank's stock worth $31,884,000 after acquiring an additional 7,439 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael E. Finn bought 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $52.50 per share, for a total transaction of $78,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $78,750. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Brian Lally sold 4,689 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.18, for a total transaction of $258,739.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 106,974 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,902,825.32. This represents a 4.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,572 shares of company stock valued at $472,667 over the last quarter. 2.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EFSC shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Enterprise Financial Services from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, June 7th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Enterprise Financial Services from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on 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.

Enterprise Financial Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ EFSC traded down $0.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $58.63. 183,107 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 187,452. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.50 and a beta of 0.86. Enterprise Financial Services Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $45.22 and a fifty-two week high of $63.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $54.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.99.

Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The bank reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.14. Enterprise Financial Services had a return on equity of 11.14% and a net margin of 20.92%. The firm had revenue of $18.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $162.83 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Enterprise Financial Services Corporation will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Financial Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. This is a positive change from Enterprise Financial Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Enterprise Financial Services's payout ratio is currently 23.53%.

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.