Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Takes Position in Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 13,105 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $739,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of EFSC. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 73.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 83,910 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,302,000 after purchasing an additional 35,484 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 28.3% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 566,780 shares of the bank's stock valued at $31,966,000 after purchasing an additional 125,150 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 123,282 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,953,000 after purchasing an additional 5,954 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $191,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 17,252 shares of the bank's stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James M. Havel sold 5,525 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,447 shares in the company, valued at $903,186.09. The trade was a 26.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Brian Lally sold 4,689 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.18, for a total value of $258,739.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,974 shares in the company, valued at $5,902,825.32. The trade was a 4.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,614 shares of company stock worth $603,790. Company insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Enterprise Financial Services Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ EFSC traded down $1.34 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $53.10. The company had a trading volume of 137,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 180,617. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of 10.97 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Enterprise Financial Services Corp has a one year low of $37.28 and a one year high of $63.13.

Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The bank reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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. On average, equities analysts expect that Enterprise Financial Services Corp will post 4.97 EPS for the current year.

Enterprise Financial Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. This is a boost from Enterprise Financial Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Enterprise Financial Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EFSC has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Enterprise Financial Services from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Enterprise Financial Services from $69.00 to $66.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th.

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.