Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 589,000 shares, a growth of 34.0% from the January 31st total of 439,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 72,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.1 days. Currently, 8.5% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James cut Esquire Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

Shares of ESQ opened at $73.87 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.05. Esquire Financial has a 52-week low of $44.45 and a 52-week high of $90.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $614.67 million, a PE ratio of 14.32 and a beta of 0.78.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.38 by ($0.01). Esquire Financial had a net margin of 31.58% and a return on equity of 19.93%. Equities research analysts predict that Esquire Financial will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.175 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. This is an increase from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 13.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Richard T. Powers sold 1,427 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.99, for a total value of $124,134.73. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 58,997 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,132,149.03. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rena Nigam purchased 640 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $77.50 per share, with a total value of $49,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 1,867 shares in the company, valued at $144,692.50. The trade was a 52.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 24,427 shares of company stock valued at $1,913,385. 18.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Esquire Financial

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Esquire Financial by 36.6% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 798 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Esquire Financial by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Esquire Financial by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,626,000 after acquiring an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Esquire Financial by 151.0% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 788 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in Esquire Financial by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.