William Blair Investment Management LLC Acquires 16,922 Shares of Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC)

William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 694,316 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,922 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 1.87% of Enterprise Financial Services worth $39,159,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,095 shares of the bank’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Enterprise Financial Services by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,233 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,762,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Enterprise Financial Services by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,141 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in Enterprise Financial Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in Enterprise Financial Services by 34.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,560 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 653 shares during the period. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EFSC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target (up from $68.00) on shares of Enterprise Financial Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Enterprise Financial Services from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th.

Enterprise Financial Services Trading Up 1.5 %

EFSC stock opened at $56.65 on Tuesday. Enterprise Financial Services Corp has a 1-year low of $37.28 and a 1-year high of $63.13. The firm has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s 50 day moving average is $58.14 and its 200-day moving average is $56.05. 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 (NASDAQ:EFSC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.14. Enterprise Financial Services had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 20.12%. Equities analysts anticipate that Enterprise Financial Services Corp will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Enterprise Financial Services Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James M. Havel sold 5,525 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 15,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $903,186.09. The trade was a 26.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

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.