Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) Announces $0.18 Quarterly Dividend

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 24th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.175 per share on Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%.

Esquire Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 11.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Esquire Financial to earn $6.02 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.70 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 11.6%.

Esquire Financial Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:ESQ traded up $1.01 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $104.78. The company had a trading volume of 137,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 94,012. Esquire Financial has a 52-week low of $54.49 and a 52-week high of $105.10. The company's 50 day moving average price is $93.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.07. The stock has a market cap of $886.44 million, a P/E ratio of 19.81 and a beta of 0.52.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.38. The company had revenue of ($24.94) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.26 million. Esquire Financial had a net margin of 31.37% and a return on equity of 19.20%. Research analysts forecast that Esquire Financial will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ari P. Kornhaber sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 104,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,738,820.44. This represents a 16.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kevin C. Waterhouse sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.87, for a total value of $251,610.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 86,599 shares in the company, valued at $7,263,058.13. This trade represents a 3.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Esquire Financial

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESQ. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Esquire Financial by 215.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 81,087 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,113,000 after purchasing an additional 55,367 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Esquire Financial by 69.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,367 shares of the company's stock valued at $932,000 after acquiring an additional 5,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Esquire Financial by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 4,178 shares of the company's stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.66% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESQ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Esquire Financial from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Esquire Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th.

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.

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