Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday morning.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Enterprise Financial Services from $68.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Enterprise Financial Services in a report on Friday, October 31st. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Enterprise Financial Services from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of Enterprise Financial Services in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Enterprise Financial Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.67.

Enterprise Financial Services Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ EFSC traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $53.47. 118,219 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 190,520. The stock has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.40 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Enterprise Financial Services has a one year low of $45.22 and a one year high of $63.13. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.89.

Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 27th. The bank reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.10). Enterprise Financial Services had a net margin of 19.98% and a return on equity of 10.98%. The business had revenue of ($325.26) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.52 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Enterprise Financial Services will post 4.97 EPS for the current year.

Enterprise Financial Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. This is a positive change from Enterprise Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Enterprise Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Enterprise Financial Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 146.8% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 969,533 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,213,000 after acquiring an additional 576,655 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services in the first quarter worth about $22,901,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Enterprise Financial Services by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,314,377 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $124,375,000 after purchasing an additional 225,369 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Enterprise Financial Services during the second quarter worth about $4,959,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Enterprise Financial Services in the 1st quarter worth about $4,771,000. 72.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.