Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Upgraded to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

Separately, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Esquire Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.33.

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

ESQ stock opened at $131.38 on Friday. Esquire Financial has a fifty-two week low of $91.64 and a fifty-two week high of $134.82. The company has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.68 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $118.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.06.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $42.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.59 million. Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 18.59% and a net margin of 29.30%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Esquire Financial will post 6.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Esquire Financial

In other news, Director Robert Mitzman sold 3,000 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.60, for a total value of $388,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 139,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,102,398.40. The trade was a 2.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 13.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $71,659,000. Langdon Equity Partners purchased a new stake in Esquire Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $14,609,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 418.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 87,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,409,000 after purchasing an additional 70,646 shares in the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Esquire Financial in the first quarter worth $6,593,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 215.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 81,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,113,000 after purchasing an additional 55,367 shares during the last quarter. 54.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Esquire Financial

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.