Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. $ESQ Shares Sold by Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd.

Key Points

• Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. has reduced its stake in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. by 31.1%, selling 15,000 shares, leaving it with 33,210 shares or about 2.3% of its total holdings.
• Esquire Financial recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.38 for the last quarter, aligning with analyst expectations, but its revenue fell short of estimates at $24.94 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.175 per share, which translates to an annualized yield of 0.7%, with the ex-dividend date set for August 15th.

Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ - Free Report) by 31.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,210 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,000 shares during the period. Esquire Financial accounts for 2.3% of Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. owned 0.39% of Esquire Financial worth $2,503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in Esquire Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in Esquire Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Esquire Financial by 151.0% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 788 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Esquire Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $106,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Esquire Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.66% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Selig Zises sold 17,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 21,001 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,094,009.71. This trade represents a 44.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph Melohn sold 1,326 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 136,531 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,653,100. This represents a 0.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,326 shares of company stock valued at $3,403,470. 18.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ESQ. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Esquire Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (up previously from $102.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research note on Friday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $100.50.

Esquire Financial Price Performance

ESQ stock traded down $2.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $98.10. 70,123 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 74,430. The firm has a market cap of $837.77 million, a P/E ratio of 18.10 and a beta of 0.57. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $97.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.45. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.00 and a 1-year high of $106.11.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.38. The company had revenue of ($24.94) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.26 million. Esquire Financial had a net margin of 30.96% and a return on equity of 18.87%. On average, research analysts predict that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.175 per share. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Esquire Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.92%.

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.