Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

by · The Markets Daily

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ – Get Free Report) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday . Approximately 138,314 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 16% from the previous session’s volume of 119,143 shares.The stock last traded at $122.91 and had previously closed at $123.66.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESQ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Esquire Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Esquire Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Esquire Financial presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $120.33.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on ESQ

Esquire Financial Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $121.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.27. The firm has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35 and a beta of 0.35.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.04. Esquire Financial had a net margin of 29.30% and a return on equity of 18.22%. The firm had revenue of $42.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.59 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Esquire Financial news, Director Robert Mitzman sold 3,000 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.60, for a total transaction of $388,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 139,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,102,398.40. The trade was a 2.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 13.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Esquire Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Esquire Financial by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 800,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,703,000 after acquiring an additional 23,692 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Esquire Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $71,659,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Esquire Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,001,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 14.7% during the first quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 304,647 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,750,000 after purchasing an additional 39,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ampfield Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 23.0% during the first quarter. Ampfield Management L.P. now owns 233,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,071,000 after purchasing an additional 43,633 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

About Esquire Financial

(Get Free Report)

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc is the bank holding company for Esquire Bank, a federally chartered community bank headquartered in Jericho, New York. Founded in 2006, Esquire Bank focuses on serving law firms, attorneys, and other professional service businesses, along with small and middle-market companies and individual customers.

The bank offers commercial and consumer banking products, including business and personal deposit accounts, commercial real estate and commercial loans, lines of credit, mortgage loans, and treasury management services.

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