Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $66.20 and last traded at $66.20, with a volume of 8455 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.31.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Esquire Financial Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $61.12 and a 200 day moving average of $53.29. The stock has a market cap of $560.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 0.70.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $33.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.99 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 31,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 4.1% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 11,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,000 after buying an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,487,000 after buying an additional 966 shares during the period. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 11,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $525,000 after buying an additional 1,065 shares in the last quarter. 54.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.