Bailard Inc. Invests $303,000 in Enterprise Financial Services Corporation $EFSC

Bailard Inc. bought a new stake in Enterprise Financial Services Corporation (NASDAQ:EFSC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,500 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Enterprise Financial Services during the first quarter valued at $22,901,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,314,377 shares of the bank’s stock worth $124,375,000 after acquiring an additional 225,369 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Enterprise Financial Services during the 1st quarter valued at about $4,771,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Enterprise Financial Services during the first quarter worth about $4,226,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Enterprise Financial Services by 7.5% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 911,911 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,006,000 after acquiring an additional 63,972 shares in the last quarter. 72.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Enterprise Financial Services Stock Up 1.1%

EFSC stock opened at $53.47 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization 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 Corporation has a 1-year low of $45.22 and a 1-year high of $63.13. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $56.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.92.

Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 27th. The bank reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 $177.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.52 million. Equities analysts forecast that Enterprise Financial Services Corporation will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Financial Services Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EFSC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Enterprise Financial Services from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Enterprise Financial Services in a research note on Friday, October 31st. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Enterprise Financial Services in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Enterprise Financial Services from $68.00 to $66.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Enterprise Financial Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.67.

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.