Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Increases Holdings in Enterprise Financial Services Corporation $EFSC

Key Points

• Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Enterprise Financial Services by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 995,541 shares valued at about $53.8 million.
• Wall Street sentiment is generally positive, with four analysts rating EFSC a Buy and one a Hold; the consensus rating is Moderate Buy with a $66 target price.
• The bank reported quarterly earnings of $1.31 per share, slightly ahead of estimates, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.34 per share, implying a 2.3% yield.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services Corporation (NASDAQ:EFSC - Free Report) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 995,541 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 26,008 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 2.69% of Enterprise Financial Services worth $53,759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bailard Inc. purchased a new stake in Enterprise Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at $270,000. Denali Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 140,800 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,603,000 after purchasing an additional 14,900 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio increased its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 10,700 shares of the bank's stock worth $578,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 104,206 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,627,000 after purchasing an additional 14,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,371,519 shares of the bank's stock worth $128,062,000 after purchasing an additional 13,956 shares in the last quarter. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on EFSC shares. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Enterprise Financial Services in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Enterprise Financial Services from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Enterprise Financial Services from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Enterprise Financial Services from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Enterprise Financial Services from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.00.

Enterprise Financial Services Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of Enterprise Financial Services stock opened at $58.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a fifty day moving average of $56.42 and a 200 day moving average of $56.12. Enterprise Financial Services Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $50.88 and a fifty-two week high of $62.30.

Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $1.31 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $174.02 million. Enterprise Financial Services had a net margin of 19.81% and a return on equity of 10.35%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Enterprise Financial Services Corporation will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Financial Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from Enterprise Financial Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. Enterprise Financial Services's payout ratio is currently 24.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Mark G. Ponder sold 1,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.55, for a total value of $75,687.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 23,526 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,424,499.30. This represents a 5.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

About Enterprise Financial Services

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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