Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $61.70, but opened at $63.69. Esquire Financial shares last traded at $63.69, with a volume of 1,566 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Esquire Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Esquire Financial Trading Up 3.0 %

The company has a market capitalization of $557.87 million, a PE ratio of 14.04 and a beta of 0.70. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.09.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.04. Esquire Financial had a net margin of 31.36% and a return on equity of 19.92%. The business had revenue of $33.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.99 million. On average, analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.90%.

Institutional Trading of Esquire Financial

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ESQ. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Esquire Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $151,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Esquire Financial during the second quarter valued at about $401,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in Esquire Financial by 102.5% during the second 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 period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial in the second quarter valued at about $926,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 9.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 202,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,655,000 after acquiring an additional 17,333 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.