Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) Short Interest Up 35.7% in January

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 trading volume, of 69,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.3 days. Approximately 6.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Richard T. Powers sold 1,427 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.99, for a total transaction of $124,134.73. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 58,997 shares in the company, valued at $5,132,149.03. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $237,450.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $291,509.45. This represents a 44.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,427 shares of company stock valued at $975,745 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 18.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Esquire Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PDT Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Esquire Financial by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 61,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,408 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in Esquire Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $213,000. Boothbay Fund Management LLC raised its stake in Esquire Financial by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 23,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,883,000 after purchasing an additional 3,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Esquire Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $300,000. Institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Esquire Financial Trading Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ ESQ traded down $1.53 during trading on Friday, hitting $83.78. The company had a trading volume of 55,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 113,648. Esquire Financial has a one year low of $44.45 and a one year high of $90.18. The company has a market cap of $697.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.24 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s fifty day moving average is $82.15 and its 200-day moving average is $71.04.

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

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.175 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ESQ shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Esquire Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th.

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.