Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 589,000 shares, an increase of 34.0% from the January 31st total of 439,600 shares. Approximately 8.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 72,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.1 days.

Esquire Financial Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:ESQ opened at $76.78 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $82.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.94. Esquire Financial has a 52 week low of $44.45 and a 52 week high of $90.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $638.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 0.73.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.38 by ($0.01). Esquire Financial had a net margin of 31.58% and a return on equity of 19.93%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Esquire Financial will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.175 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rena Nigam purchased 640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $77.50 per share, for a total transaction of $49,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $144,692.50. This trade represents a 52.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph Melohn sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.15, for a total value of $237,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $291,509.45. This trade represents a 44.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Esquire Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 36.6% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 798 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Esquire Financial by 14.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Esquire Financial by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,626,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Esquire Financial by 151.0% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in Esquire Financial by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the period. 54.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ESQ. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James lowered Esquire Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

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.