Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 22,739 Shares of Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC) by 94.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,727 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,739 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.13% of Enterprise Financial Services worth $2,391,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Enterprise Financial Services by 16.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,545,092 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $181,721,000 after purchasing an additional 505,552 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 3.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,084,093 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $85,257,000 after buying an additional 71,502 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,955,988 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $80,019,000 after buying an additional 59,809 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 892,030 shares of the bank’s stock worth $45,734,000 after acquiring an additional 8,180 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Enterprise Financial Services by 19.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 655,490 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,816,000 after acquiring an additional 104,960 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.21% of the company’s stock.

Enterprise Financial Services Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ EFSC opened at $57.20 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 0.99. Enterprise Financial Services Corp has a 52 week low of $37.28 and a 52 week high of $63.13. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.00.

Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $164.89 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.56 million. Enterprise Financial Services had a net margin of 19.73% and a return on equity of 10.81%. Research analysts anticipate that Enterprise Financial Services Corp will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Financial Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. This is a boost from Enterprise Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Enterprise Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EFSC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Enterprise Financial Services from $59.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Enterprise Financial Services from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Enterprise Financial Services news, Director Richard Sanborn sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.56, for a total value of $5,956,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 40,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,438,982. This trade represents a 70.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.