First Trust Advisors LP Sells 23,126 Shares of Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC)

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its position in shares of Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC - Free Report) by 23.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,657 shares of the bank's stock after selling 23,126 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.20% of Enterprise Financial Services worth $4,267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EFSC. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Enterprise Financial Services by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,095 shares of the bank's stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Enterprise Financial Services by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,873 shares of the bank's stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Enterprise Financial Services by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 27,696 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,629,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,233 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,762,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 5,714 shares of the bank's stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Enterprise Financial Services from $69.00 to $66.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Enterprise Financial Services from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th.

Insider Transactions at Enterprise Financial Services

In other news, Director James M. Havel sold 5,525 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total value of $323,046.75. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $903,186.09. This represents a 26.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Enterprise Financial Services Trading Up 0.9 %

EFSC stock traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $53.22. 21,386 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 176,726. Enterprise Financial Services Corp has a 52-week low of $37.28 and a 52-week high of $63.13. The stock's fifty day moving average is $52.47 and its 200-day moving average is $56.04. The company has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 0.85. 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 (NASDAQ:EFSC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The bank reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $18.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $162.83 million. Enterprise Financial Services had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 20.12%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Enterprise Financial Services Corp will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Enterprise Financial Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This is an increase from Enterprise Financial Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Enterprise Financial Services's dividend 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.