Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Earns "Market Perform" Rating from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Key Points

• Esquire Financial's stock received a "market perform" rating from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, with a revised price target of $110.00, indicating a potential upside of 6.61% from the current price.
• Meanwhile, Wall Street Zen downgraded Esquire Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating on July 18th.
• Esquire Financial reported $1.38 earnings per share for the latest quarter, meeting consensus estimates, but reported revenues of $24.94 million, falling short of expectations.
• Insider transactions included notable sales, with Director Kevin C. Waterhouse and EVP Ari P. Kornhaber reducing their stakes in the company.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "market perform" rating reiterated by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $110.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $102.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price target indicates a potential upside of 6.61% from the stock's current price.

Separately, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Esquire Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th.

Esquire Financial Trading Down 0.6%

ESQ stock opened at $103.18 on Friday. Esquire Financial has a 12-month low of $54.49 and a 12-month high of $105.10. The stock has a market cap of $872.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.50 and a beta of 0.52. The business's 50-day moving average is $93.64 and its 200 day moving average is $85.07.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Esquire Financial

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 40,107.1% during the 2nd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 244,861 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,179,000 after buying an additional 244,252 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas raised its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 99.7% during the 2nd quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 1,338 shares of the company's stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 668 shares during the period. Longboard Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $233,000. Next Level Private LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 11,608 shares of the company's stock valued at $875,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.66% of the company's stock.

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.

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