Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Hits New 52-Week High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Esquire Financial's stock reached a new 52-week high of $107.25 in recent trading, closing at $106.49.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.175 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $0.70 and a yield of 0.7%.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings for Esquire Financial, with an average target price of $100.50, and one analyst recommending a "Buy" while two rated it "Hold."

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $107.25 and last traded at $106.49, with a volume of 8904 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $104.24.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESQ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "market perform" rating and set a $110.00 price target (up previously from $102.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen cut Esquire Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Esquire Financial presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $100.50.

Esquire Financial Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $898.32 million, a P/E ratio of 19.41 and a beta of 0.57. The stock's 50 day moving average is $98.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.72.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.38. The firm had revenue of ($24.94) million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $28.26 million. Esquire Financial had a net margin of 30.96% and a return on equity of 18.87%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.175 dividend. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Esquire Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 12.92%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Selig Zises sold 17,000 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.71, for a total transaction of $1,695,070.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 21,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,094,009.71. The trade was a 44.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Melohn sold 1,326 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $132,600.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 136,531 shares in the company, valued at $13,653,100. This trade represents a 0.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,326 shares of company stock valued at $3,403,470 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 18.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESQ. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 99.2% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 25,712 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,434,000 after acquiring an additional 12,802 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Esquire Financial by 352.5% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 810 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 631 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Esquire Financial by 70.5% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 16,038 shares of the company's stock worth $1,530,000 after purchasing an additional 6,629 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in Esquire Financial during the second quarter worth about $207,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 33.6% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,128 shares of the company's stock worth $391,000 after buying an additional 1,038 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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