Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $93.73 and last traded at $93.73, with a volume of 191801 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $89.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th.

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $769.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.19 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.35.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $33.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.71 million. Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 19.20% and a net margin of 31.37%. On average, analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.175 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kevin C. Waterhouse sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.87, for a total transaction of $251,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 86,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,263,058.13. This represents a 3.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Ari P. Kornhaber sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.51, for a total value of $1,670,200.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,738,820.44. The trade was a 16.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Esquire Financial

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Esquire Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $545,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Esquire Financial by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 166,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,270,000 after acquiring an additional 23,998 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC boosted its position in Esquire Financial by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investment Services LLC now owns 33,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,654,000 after acquiring an additional 6,572 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Esquire Financial by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 387,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,825,000 after acquiring an additional 21,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in Esquire Financial by 99.3% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 8,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $662,000 after acquiring an additional 4,145 shares during the last quarter. 54.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Esquire Financial

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Esquire Bank, National Association that provides commercial banking products and services to legal industry and small businesses, and commercial and retail customers in the United States. The company offers checking, savings, money market, and time deposits, as well as certificates of deposit.