Cullen Capital Management LLC Purchases 7,249 Shares of Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC)

Cullen Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC) by 86.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,611 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 7,249 shares during the quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Enterprise Financial Services were worth $880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EFSC. PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 5,540.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 38,992,127 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Enterprise Financial Services by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,545,092 shares of the bank’s stock worth $181,721,000 after buying an additional 505,552 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Enterprise Financial Services during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,556,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Enterprise Financial Services by 28.3% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 566,780 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,966,000 after buying an additional 125,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $47,824,000 after acquiring an additional 96,822 shares in the last quarter. 72.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on EFSC shares. DA Davidson lifted their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price (up from $68.00) on shares of Enterprise Financial Services in a report on Wednesday, January 29th.

Enterprise Financial Services Stock Performance

Shares of EFSC opened at $47.86 on Friday. Enterprise Financial Services Corp has a 12 month low of $37.28 and a 12 month high of $63.13. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $57.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.89 and a beta of 0.97.

Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Research 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. This is a boost from Enterprise Financial Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Enterprise Financial Services’s payout ratio is presently 23.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.