Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) Short Interest Update

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) was the target of a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 439,600 shares, an increase of 35.7% from the January 15th total of 323,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 69,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.3 days. Currently, 6.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph Melohn sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.15, for a total value of $237,450.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $291,509.45. This trade represents a 44.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Richard T. Powers sold 1,427 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.99, for a total value of $124,134.73. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 58,997 shares in the company, valued at $5,132,149.03. The trade was a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 12,427 shares of company stock valued at $975,745. 18.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESQ. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 36.6% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 798 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Esquire Financial by 14.3% during the third 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 holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,626,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 151.0% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the period. Finally, Delphi Management Inc. MA increased its stake in Esquire Financial by 33.8% during the 4th quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA now owns 2,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 701 shares during the period. 54.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on ESQ. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James cut Esquire Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Esquire Financial stock traded down $1.53 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $83.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 55,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 113,648. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $82.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.04. Esquire Financial has a 12-month low of $44.45 and a 12-month high of $90.18. The company has a market cap of $697.05 million, a PE ratio of 16.24 and a beta of 0.73.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last announced its earnings results 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Esquire Financial will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.175 dividend. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is currently 11.63%.

About Esquire Financial

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.