Enterprise Financial Services Corporation $EFSC Shares Bought by Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. significantly raised its stake in Enterprise Financial Services Corp by 197.1%, now owning approximately 0.11% of the company's stock worth $2,093,000.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.31 per share, with a yield of 2.0%, payable on September 30th.
• Enterprise Financial Services reported $1.37 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates of $1.20, and had a revenue of $176.05 million, exceeding expectations.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Enterprise Financial Services Corporation (NASDAQ:EFSC - Free Report) by 197.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,939 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 25,834 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.11% of Enterprise Financial Services worth $2,093,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in EFSC. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 20,113 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 83,179 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,691,000 after purchasing an additional 8,525 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services during the fourth quarter worth $204,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 56.7% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 30,874 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,741,000 after purchasing an additional 11,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 21,064 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Enterprise Financial Services

In related news, Director Michael E. Finn purchased 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $54.11 per share, for a total transaction of $81,165.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $162,330. This trade represents a 100.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Brian Lally sold 1,828 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.16, for a total value of $100,832.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 100,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,564,816.60. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded Enterprise Financial Services from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $64.33.

Enterprise Financial Services Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of EFSC traded down $0.71 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $60.53. The stock had a trading volume of 201,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 144,426. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 0.92. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $58.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.91. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 11.19% and a net margin of 21.28%. Equities research analysts forecast that Enterprise Financial Services Corporation will post 4.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Financial Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.31 dividend. This is an increase from Enterprise Financial Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Enterprise Financial Services's dividend payout ratio is 22.77%.

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.