Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 222,700 shares, a decline of 9.5% from the March 31st total of 246,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 47,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.7 days. Currently, 3.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on ESQ. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Esquire Financial from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Esquire Financial in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Esquire Financial from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th.

Esquire Financial Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ ESQ traded down $2.08 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $47.04. The stock had a trading volume of 55,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 42,182. Esquire Financial has a 52-week low of $35.00 and a 52-week high of $54.80. The firm has a market cap of $390.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.12 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $47.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.83.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.02). Esquire Financial had a net margin of 31.50% and a return on equity of 20.73%. The firm had revenue of $28.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.01 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Esquire Financial will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is currently 12.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Selig Zises sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.84, for a total transaction of $598,080.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 135,033 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,730,044.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 20.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Esquire Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESQ. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Esquire Financial during the third quarter worth $30,000. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 15,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $700,000 after acquiring an additional 757 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial during the 1st quarter worth $42,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 362,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,558,000 after purchasing an additional 1,349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Esquire Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $127,000. 54.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.