Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC) Increases Dividend to $0.29 Per Share

Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.29 per share by the bank on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Enterprise Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28.

Enterprise Financial Services has increased its dividend by an average of 12.2% annually over the last three years. Enterprise Financial Services has a dividend payout ratio of 22.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Enterprise Financial Services to earn $4.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.6%.

Enterprise Financial Services Price Performance

NASDAQ:EFSC traded up $2.48 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.04. The company had a trading volume of 238,841 shares, compared to its average volume of 150,489. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $57.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.84. Enterprise Financial Services has a 52-week low of $37.28 and a 52-week high of $63.13. The company has a market capitalization of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of 12.72 and a beta of 1.00.

Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.14. Enterprise Financial Services had a net margin of 19.73% and a return on equity of 10.81%. As a group, research analysts expect that Enterprise Financial Services will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Richard Sanborn sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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 owns 40,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,438,982. This trade represents a 70.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.