Short Interest in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) Expands By 9.7%

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 238,800 shares, a growth of 9.7% from the September 15th total of 217,600 shares. Currently, 3.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 30,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.7 days.

Esquire Financial Price Performance

ESQ traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $67.55. 11,453 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 34,281. Esquire Financial has a fifty-two week low of $43.24 and a fifty-two week high of $67.70. The company has a market cap of $560.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.29.

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. The business had revenue of $33.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.99 million. Esquire Financial had a net margin of 31.36% and a return on equity of 19.92%. On average, research analysts predict that Esquire Financial will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.90%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Esquire Financial

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESQ. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial during the first quarter valued at about $42,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Esquire Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank acquired a new position in shares of Esquire Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $91,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Esquire Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $151,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Esquire Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $401,000. 54.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of 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 report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

About Esquire Financial

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.