Since August 2025, Enterprise Financial Services has been in a holding pattern, posting a small return of 4% while floating around $59.25.
Is there a buying opportunity in Enterprise Financial Services, or does it present a risk to your portfolio? Check out our in-depth research report to see what our analysts have to say, it’s free.
Why Is Enterprise Financial Services Not Exciting?
We're cautious about Enterprise Financial Services. Here are three reasons we avoid EFSC and a stock we'd rather own.
1. Lackluster Revenue Growth
We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within financials, a stretched historical view may miss recent interest rate changes, market returns, and industry trends. Enterprise Financial Services’s recent performance shows its demand has slowed significantly as its annualized revenue growth of 5.7% over the last two years was well below its five-year trend. 
Note: Quarters not shown were determined to be outliers, impacted by outsized investment gains/losses that are not indicative of the recurring fundamentals of the business.
2. Net Interest Margin Dropping
Net interest margin (NIM) serves as a critical gauge of a bank's fundamental profitability by showing the spread between interest income and interest expenses. It's essential for understanding whether a firm can sustainably generate returns from its lending operations.
Over the past two years, Enterprise Financial Services’s net interest margin averaged 4.2%. However, its margin contracted by 29.7 basis points (100 basis points = 1 percentage point) over that period.
This decline was a headwind for its net interest income. While prevailing rates are a major determinant of net interest margin changes over time, the decline could mean Enterprise Financial Services either faced competition for loans and deposits or experienced a negative mix shift in its balance sheet composition.
3. Recent EPS Growth Below Our Standards
Although long-term earnings trends give us the big picture, we like to analyze EPS over a shorter period to see if we are missing a change in the business.
Enterprise Financial Services’s EPS grew at a weak 1.1% compounded annual growth rate over the last two years, lower than its 5.7% annualized revenue growth. This tells us the company became less profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded.
Final Judgment
Enterprise Financial Services isn’t a terrible business, but it doesn’t pass our quality test. That said, the stock currently trades at 1× forward P/B (or $59.25 per share). While this valuation is reasonable, we don’t really see a big opportunity at the moment. We're fairly confident there are better stocks to buy right now. We’d recommend looking at a fast-growing restaurant franchise with an A+ ranch dressing sauce.
Stocks We Would Buy Instead of Enterprise Financial Services
The market’s up big this year - but there’s a catch. Just 4 stocks account for half the S&P 500’s entire gain. That kind of concentration makes investors nervous, and for good reason. While everyone piles into the same crowded names, smart investors are hunting quality where no one’s looking - and paying a fraction of the price. Check out the high-quality names we’ve flagged in our Top 9 Market-Beating Stocks. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 244% over the last five years (as of June 30, 2025).
Stocks that have made our list include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,326% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-small-cap company Comfort Systems (+782% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.