Franklin Resources Inc. Reduces Holdings in Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 46,412 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 315 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Enterprise Financial Services were worth $2,618,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 565,314 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,884,000 after purchasing an additional 7,439 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in Enterprise Financial Services by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 27,696 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,629,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Enterprise Financial Services by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,089,008 shares of the bank’s stock worth $117,820,000 after buying an additional 13,724 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Enterprise Financial Services by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 6,963 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $406,000. 72.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Enterprise Financial Services Stock Down 1.0 %

EFSC stock opened at $46.20 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a PE ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a fifty day moving average of $55.93 and a 200-day moving average of $56.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. Enterprise Financial Services Corp has a one year low of $37.28 and a one year high of $63.13.

Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Enterprise Financial Services Corp will post 4.97 EPS for the current year.

Enterprise Financial Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Enterprise Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Enterprise Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EFSC. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Enterprise Financial Services from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set 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 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.