Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Stock Bumped Up to “Strong-Buy” by Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Zacks reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Esquire Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Esquire Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Esquire Financial in a report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Strong Buy” and an average price target of $122.50.

Esquire Financial Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:ESQ opened at $127.70 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $119.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.29. The stock has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.25 and a beta of 0.40. Esquire Financial has a fifty-two week low of $92.10 and a fifty-two week high of $134.82.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.23. Esquire Financial had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 21.49%. The company had revenue of $61.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.93 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Esquire Financial will post 7.49 EPS for the current year.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 13.20%.

Insider Transactions at Esquire Financial

In other Esquire Financial news, CEO Andrew Sagliocca sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.73, for a total value of $1,227,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 288,798 shares in the company, valued at $35,444,178.54. This represents a 3.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 13.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Esquire Financial

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Esquire Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $71,659,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $44,001,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 14.7% in the first quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 304,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,750,000 after acquiring an additional 39,097 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 2.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 200,807 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,586,000 after acquiring an additional 4,825 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 418.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 87,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,409,000 after acquiring an additional 70,646 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

About Esquire Financial

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc is the bank holding company for Esquire Bank, a federally chartered community bank headquartered in Jericho, New York. Esquire Bank primarily serves law firms, attorneys, and other professional-service businesses, as well as small and middle-market companies, entrepreneurs, and individuals.

The bank provides commercial banking products and services that include business checking and savings accounts, commercial loans, lines of credit, commercial real estate financing, construction lending, and small business lending.