Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Increases Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Price Target to $94.00

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) had its target price upped by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $85.00 to $94.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James cut Esquire Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th.

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

Shares of ESQ stock opened at $84.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $76.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $711.41 million, a P/E ratio of 16.35 and a beta of 0.52. Esquire Financial has a 52-week low of $44.55 and a 52-week high of $90.18.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $33.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.71 million. Esquire Financial had a net margin of 31.58% and a return on equity of 19.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Esquire Financial will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.175 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.23%.

Insider Transactions at Esquire Financial

In other news, Director Richard T. Powers sold 1,427 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.99, for a total value of $124,134.73. Following the transaction, the director now owns 58,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,132,149.03. The trade was a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 shares were sold at an average price of $83.51, for a total transaction 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 $8,738,820.44. The trade was a 16.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,427 shares of company stock valued at $3,346,135. Company insiders own 18.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Esquire Financial

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Esquire Financial by 16.7% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 40,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after buying an additional 5,745 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial during the first quarter worth $51,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 53.9% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 1,728 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 11,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $875,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Esquire Financial by 11,851.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $369,000 after acquiring an additional 4,859 shares during the last quarter. 54.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Esquire Financial Company Profile

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.