Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC) by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 16,124 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 3,268 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Enterprise Financial Services were worth $827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Enterprise Financial Services by 16.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,545,092 shares of the bank’s stock worth $181,721,000 after purchasing an additional 505,552 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 3.6% during the 2nd 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 increased its holdings 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 worth $80,019,000 after buying an additional 59,809 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 892,030 shares of the bank’s stock worth $45,734,000 after buying an additional 8,180 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Enterprise Financial Services by 19.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 655,490 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,816,000 after acquiring an additional 104,960 shares during the last quarter. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Enterprise Financial Services Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ EFSC opened at $55.89 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $57.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.85. 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 Corp has a 12-month low of $37.28 and a 12-month high of $63.13. The company has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.84 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Enterprise Financial Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. This is a positive change from Enterprise Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Enterprise Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Transactions at Enterprise Financial Services

In related news, Director Richard Sanborn sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.56, for a total transaction of $5,956,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 40,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,438,982. This trade represents a 70.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

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.