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

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

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.175 per share. This is a positive change from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 11.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ESQ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James downgraded Esquire Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Esquire Financial Trading Up 2.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $743.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $80.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.99.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last announced 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 return on equity of 19.93% and a net margin of 31.58%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Esquire Financial

In related news, Director Rena Nigam bought 640 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $77.50 per share, for a total transaction of $49,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $144,692.50. This represents a 52.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Melohn sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.15, for a total value of $237,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,683 shares in the company, valued at $291,509.45. This trade represents a 44.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Esquire Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 9.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 202,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,655,000 after purchasing an additional 17,333 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Esquire Financial in the second quarter worth about $926,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in Esquire Financial by 102.5% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 14,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $706,000 after purchasing an additional 7,502 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Esquire Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $401,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $151,000. 54.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.