Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 863,400 shares, a growth of 91.9% from the March 15th total of 449,900 shares. Approximately 2.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 235,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EFSC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated 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 objective on Enterprise Financial Services from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th.

Enterprise Financial Services Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EFSC traded up $0.32 on Wednesday, hitting $48.05. 141,932 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 174,807. Enterprise Financial Services has a 1-year low of $37.28 and a 1-year high of $63.13. The company has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a PE ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $55.36 and its 200 day moving average is $56.04.

Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) last announced its quarterly 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 20.12% and a return on equity of 10.94%. Sell-side analysts predict that Enterprise Financial Services will post 4.97 EPS for the current year.

Enterprise Financial Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. This is a boost from Enterprise Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Enterprise Financial Services’s payout ratio is 23.97%.

Insider Activity at Enterprise Financial Services

In other news, Director James M. Havel sold 5,525 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total transaction of $323,046.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $903,186.09. This represents a 26.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Enterprise Financial Services

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Enterprise Financial Services by 5,540.0% in the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 39,695,956 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,238,852,000 after buying an additional 38,992,127 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,215,368 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $124,947,000 after acquiring an additional 54,987 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Enterprise Financial Services by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,089,008 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $117,820,000 after purchasing an additional 13,724 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Enterprise Financial Services by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 892,030 shares of the bank’s stock worth $45,734,000 after purchasing an additional 8,180 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Enterprise Financial Services by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 847,939 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,824,000 after purchasing an additional 96,822 shares during the period. 72.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.