Esquire Financial's (ESQ) "Buy (B)" Rating Reaffirmed at Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Esquire Financial's stock has been reaffirmed with a "buy (B)" rating by Weiss Ratings, despite receiving a "sell" rating from Wall Street Zen.
• The company reported earnings of $1.38 per share for the last quarter, meeting consensus estimates, but had lower-than-expected revenue of $24.94 million against a projection of $28.26 million.
• Insider transactions included significant share sales by directors, with one selling 17,000 shares, resulting in a 44.74% decrease in their ownership in Esquire Financial.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b)" rating reiterated by analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Esquire Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $110.00 price target (up from $102.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a report on Friday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Esquire Financial currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $100.50.

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

Shares of ESQ stock opened at $103.95 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $98.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.03. The stock has a market cap of $887.73 million, a PE ratio of 19.18 and a beta of 0.53. Esquire Financial has a 1 year low of $60.95 and a 1 year high of $107.25.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.38. The firm had revenue of ($24.94) million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $28.26 million. Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 18.87% and a net margin of 30.96%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Esquire Financial will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Esquire Financial

In other news, Director Selig Zises sold 17,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.71, for a total value of $1,695,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 21,001 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,094,009.71. This represents a 44.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Melohn sold 1,326 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $132,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 136,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,653,100. This represents a 0.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 34,326 shares of company stock valued at $3,403,470. 18.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Esquire Financial by 70.5% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 16,038 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,518,000 after buying an additional 6,629 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in Esquire Financial by 99.2% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 25,712 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,434,000 after buying an additional 12,802 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 352.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 810 shares of the company's stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $207,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 33.6% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,128 shares of the company's stock worth $391,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.66% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.