PL Capital Advisors LLC Increases Position in Enterprise Financial Services Corp
Investment firm, PL Capital Advisors LLC, announced today that it increased its position in Enterprise Financial Services Corp (NASDAQ:EFSC) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter of 2022. According to their most recent SEC filing, the fund now owns 780,829 shares of EFSC stock after purchasing an additional 12,859 shares during the period. EFSC accounts for approximately 10.7% of PL Capital Advisors’ investment portfolio making it their second largest position.
At the end of the reporting period on May 16, 2023, PL Capital Advisors owned approximately 2.10% of Enterprise Financial Services which was worth $39,062,000 at the time. This news may be surprising to investors who have been following Enterprise Financial Services as they recently declared a quarterly dividend with an upcoming ex-dividend date on June 14th.
The quarterly dividend will be paid out on Friday, June 30th and investors of record on Thursday, June 15th will receive a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.0 annualized dividend and an attractive dividend yield for investors at 2.60%. As EFSC’s dividend payout ratio is currently at a comfortable level of 18.02%, investors can anticipate continued dividends from this growing financial institution.
In other news regarding EFSC’s stock holdings, Director Lyne Andrich recently purchased an additional 1,840 shares in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 27th at an average cost of $54.35 per share, totaling to $100,004.00 worth of stock acquired by the director from their personal funds.
Following this transaction, Lyne Andrich now owns nearly double the amount of shares before this purchase and holds over two thousand shares valued around $125k USD.
Corporate insiders own about only 3.80% of the company’s stock, which raises the question as to whether other insiders may follow Lyne Andrich’s investment into EFSC. With new developments by PL Capital Advisors LLC and Director Andrich investing personal funds into EFSC shares, investors may begin to see a more optimistic look on future growth for this bank holding company.
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Institutional Investors Show Confidence in Enterprise Financial Services Corp Amidst Market Volatility and Pandemic Challenges
Enterprise Financial Services Corp: An Overview of Recent Transactions and Analysis
Enterprise Financial Services Corp (EFSC) has been making headlines lately, as several hedge funds have recently acquired positions in the company. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc., Quadrature Capital Ltd, Busey Wealth Management, and Phocas Financial Corp. have all announced new positions in EFSC. Furthermore, Phocas Financial Corp. lifted its position in EFSC by 24.9% during the fourth quarter.
According to reports, 68.87% of the stock is now owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Several research analysts have also weighed in on EFSC’s stock lately. Piper Sandler decreased their target price from $54.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 26th. StockNews.com began coverage on Enterprise Financial Services with a “hold” rating for the company in March this year. Finally, Raymond James cut their price target on Enterprise Financial Services from $52.00 to $50.00 in another research note published on April 26th.
The company has declared a quarterly dividend which will be paid on June 30th this year; investors of record on Thursday, June 15th will receive a dividend of $0.25 per share representing a $1.00 annualized dividend with a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 14th.
Shares of EFSC opened at $38.44 on May 16th this year; the business’s 50 day moving average sits at $43.92 while the two-hundred day moving average is set at$48.94 . Moreover, EFSC has reported a market cap value of $1.43 billion alongside a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.93 and beta score of 1 .12. According to reports, the company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.
EFSC had recently released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th; the bank reported $1.46 earnings per share for the first quarter of this year, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.09 . Furthermore, EFSC had generated revenue of $185.93 million in Q1 of this year compared to their projected estimate of $154.13 million.
Despite some mixed reviews from analysts and market volatility amidst the uncertainties of COVID-19, it seems that Enterprise Financial Services Corp is still attracting investors with institutional traders showing great appreciation for it in terms of funds and new positions in place within hundreds of thousands or as much as millions invested in it. The future performance and outlook however may entirely depend on their business strategies put to action after taking into consideration various challenges posed by pandemic oriented global conditions further down the line where effective crisis management combined with strategic solutions can be a game changer for businesses across different industries while being able to adapt and evolve at an accelerated pace without compromising positive outcomes can become a catalyst towards success allowing companies such as Enterprise Financial Services Corp to emerge stronger than ever before amidst turmoil’s like crises outbreaks from economies worldwide or invasive milestones affecting overall financial systems impacting investment opportunities around the globe critically for long term economic growth perspectives benefiting investors institutions alike.
