Copeland Capital Management LLC Acquires 27,528 Shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. $ESQ

Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) by 11.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 265,550 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,528 shares during the quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC owned about 3.10% of Esquire Financial worth $27,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESQ. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new stake in Esquire Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Esquire Financial by 352.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Esquire Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $93,000. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in Esquire Financial by 50.2% during the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in Esquire Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Esquire Financial

In other Esquire Financial news, Director Richard T. Powers sold 2,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.83, for a total value of $241,947.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 58,233 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,104,565.39. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Selig Zises sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.54, for a total value of $2,663,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $905,696.54. This trade represents a 74.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,308 shares of company stock valued at $3,430,948. Insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Esquire Financial Stock Up 4.3%

Esquire Financial stock opened at $114.65 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $107.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.24. The stock has a market cap of $990.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.50 and a beta of 0.45. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $80.19 and a 12 month high of $134.82.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.58. The firm had revenue of $40.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.76 million. Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 30.90%. On average, analysts expect that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This is a positive change from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is currently 13.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Esquire Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Esquire Financial from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Esquire Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded Esquire Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $125.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.33.

About Esquire Financial

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc is a bank holding company whose principal subsidiary, Esquire Bank, specializes in residential mortgage lending and community banking services. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, the company operates through multiple distribution channels, including retail branches, wholesale and correspondent lending divisions. Esquire Financial focuses on tailored home financing solutions while maintaining a community-oriented approach to banking.

In its mortgage lending business, Esquire Bank originates and services a range of home loan products, including government-insured mortgages (FHA, VA and USDA) as well as conventional conforming and jumbo loans.