Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Reaches New 1-Year High After Dividend Announcement

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $90.18 and last traded at $89.51, with a volume of 31648 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $87.42.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.175 dividend. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. This is an increase from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 11.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Esquire Financial Stock Up 1.9 %

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $80.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.75. The company has a market capitalization of $741.19 million, a PE ratio of 17.29 and a beta of 0.73.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by ($0.01). Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 19.93% and a net margin of 31.58%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Esquire Financial

In other news, Director Joseph Melohn sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.15, for a total transaction of $237,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $291,509.45. This represents a 44.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Selig Zises sold 8,000 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.77, for a total transaction of $614,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 62,601 shares in the company, valued at $4,805,878.77. This represents a 11.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Esquire Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Esquire Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $534,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Esquire Financial by 38.3% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 887 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 161.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 23,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,532,000 after acquiring an additional 14,521 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in Esquire Financial during the third quarter worth about $252,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in Esquire Financial by 322.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 7,869 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.