Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC) by 8.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,392 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 1,488 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.05% of Enterprise Financial Services worth $793,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EFSC. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,295,011 shares of the bank’s stock worth $102,472,000 after buying an additional 150,023 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Enterprise Financial Services by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,020,424 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $81,948,000 after acquiring an additional 25,576 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Enterprise Financial Services by 11.6% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 459,161 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,624,000 after purchasing an additional 47,905 shares during the last quarter. BHZ Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at about $692,000. Finally, Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services during the 1st quarter valued at about $873,000. Institutional investors own 72.21% of the company’s stock.

Enterprise Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of EFSC opened at $51.44 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Enterprise Financial Services Corp has a 52 week low of $32.97 and a 52 week high of $54.88. The stock has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 0.98.

Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.15. Enterprise Financial Services had a net margin of 19.61% and a return on equity of 10.95%. The company had revenue of $156.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $153.41 million. On average, analysts expect that Enterprise Financial Services Corp will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Enterprise Financial Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. This is an increase from Enterprise Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Enterprise Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.27%.

Insider Activity

In other Enterprise Financial Services news, Director Richard Sanborn sold 94,815 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.73, for a total value of $5,094,409.95. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 139,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,493,185.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Enterprise Financial Services from $45.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th.

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.