Sowell Financial Services LLC Makes New Investment in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. $ESQ

Sowell Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,264,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 40,107.1% during the 2nd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 244,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,179,000 after acquiring an additional 244,252 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Esquire Financial by 6.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 224,198 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,223,000 after purchasing an additional 14,207 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Esquire Financial by 4.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 199,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,927,000 after purchasing an additional 7,673 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Esquire Financial by 215.3% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 81,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,113,000 after purchasing an additional 55,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Esquire Financial by 16.1% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 49,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,677,000 after purchasing an additional 6,846 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ESQ. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Esquire Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, November 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Esquire Financial from $113.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of Esquire Financial in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Esquire Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $113.00.

Esquire Financial Price Performance

Shares of ESQ opened at $102.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.38. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.90 and a 1-year high of $110.71. The stock has a market cap of $875.70 million, a PE ratio of 17.94 and a beta of 0.42.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $37.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.21 million. Esquire Financial had a net margin of 31.26% and a return on equity of 18.55%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th were paid a $0.175 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is presently 12.28%.

Esquire Financial Company Profile

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc is a bank holding company whose principal subsidiary, Esquire Bank, specializes in residential mortgage lending and community banking services. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, the company operates through multiple distribution channels, including retail branches, wholesale and correspondent lending divisions. Esquire Financial focuses on tailored home financing solutions while maintaining a community-oriented approach to banking.

In its mortgage lending business, Esquire Bank originates and services a range of home loan products, including government-insured mortgages (FHA, VA and USDA) as well as conventional conforming and jumbo loans.