Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 15,700 Shares of Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its holdings in shares of Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 102,206 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 15,700 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.28% of Enterprise Financial Services worth $5,765,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Enterprise Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Enterprise Financial Services by 2,593.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 835 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 804 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Enterprise Financial Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $102,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in Enterprise Financial Services by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the bank’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 653 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System bought a new stake in Enterprise Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $191,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James M. Havel sold 5,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total value of $323,046.75. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $903,186.09. This represents a 26.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EFSC. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Enterprise Financial Services from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target (up previously from $68.00) on shares of Enterprise Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, January 29th.

Enterprise Financial Services Trading Up 2.6 %

EFSC opened at $56.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66 and a beta of 0.97. Enterprise Financial Services Corp has a one year low of $37.28 and a one year high of $63.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.14. Enterprise Financial Services had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 20.12%. Analysts predict that Enterprise Financial Services Corp will post 4.97 EPS for the current year.

Enterprise Financial Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. This is a boost from Enterprise Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Enterprise Financial Services’s payout ratio is currently 23.97%.

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.