Yahoo Finance 4 Reasons to Invest in Enterprise Financial (EFSC) Stock Now
Given the extreme market volatility on the back of macroeconomic and geopolitical concerns, investors are shying away from investing in stocks. Despite this, there are a number of stocks, particularly from the banking sector, which one can consider based on their strong fundamentals and prospects. One such stock is Enterprise Financial Services Corp EFSC.
The company has been witnessing upward earnings estimate revisions of late, reflecting analysts’ optimism regarding its earnings growth potential. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for EFSC’s 2022 earnings has been revised 3.1% upward over the past 30 days. Thus, EFSC currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The company’s price performance also looks impressive. Over the past year, its shares have rallied 10.6% compared with the industry’s growth of 5.8%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
A few other factors that make Enterprise Financial a decent pick right now are mentioned below.
Earnings per Share (EPS) Strength: Enterprise Financial witnessed EPS growth of 10.5% over the last three to five years. The upward momentum is expected to continue in the near term. In 2022, the company’s earnings are projected to grow marginally, while for 2023, the EPS growth rate is estimated at 3.6%.
EFSC also has an impressive earnings surprise history. Its earnings have outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average beat being 23.5%.
Revenue Growth: Enterprise Financial’s revenues witnessed a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.5% over the last five years (2017-2021). The top line will likely improve further in the near term. Per the Zacks Consensus Estimate, revenues are expected to increase 20.5% in 2022 and 8.3% in 2023.
Superior Return on Equity (ROE): Enterprise Financial has an ROE of 13.51%, which is better than the industry average of 11.13%. This shows that the company reinvests its cash more efficiently than its peers.
Favorable Valuation: If we compare the company’s price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio with the industry average, the stock appears undervalued. Its P/E (F1) ratio is 9.86, below the industry average of 10.44.
Also, EFSC has a Value Score of B. The Value Style Score condenses all valuation metrics into one actionable score, which helps investors steer clear of 'value traps' and identify stocks that are truly trading at a discount.
Other Key Picks
A couple of other top-ranked stocks from the finance space are Associated Banc-Corp ASB and Zions Bancorporation ZION. Both ASB and ZION currently carry a Zacks Rank of 2.
Associated Banc-Corp’s Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 earnings has moved 15.3% upward over the past 30 days. In the past three months, ASB’s shares have gained 10.3%.
Zions’ Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 earnings has been revised 5.5% upward over the past 60 days. ZION’s shares have gained 11.3% in the past three months.
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Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (ZION) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Enterprise Financial Services Corporation (EFSC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Associated BancCorp (ASB) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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