Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 589,000 shares, an increase of 34.0% from the January 31st total of 439,600 shares. Approximately 8.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 72,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.1 days.

Esquire Financial Price Performance

ESQ stock opened at $73.87 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $614.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.32 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $82.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.05. Esquire Financial has a fifty-two week low of $44.45 and a fifty-two week high of $90.18.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts expect that Esquire Financial will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.175 per share. This is a boost from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity

In other Esquire Financial news, Director Rena Nigam purchased 640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $77.50 per share, for a total transaction of $49,600.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 1,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $144,692.50. The trade was a 52.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Selig Zises sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.59, for a total value of $1,551,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 35,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,754,522.59. This trade represents a 36.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,427 shares of company stock valued at $1,913,385. 18.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESQ. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 151.0% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 788 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 36.6% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 798 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Esquire Financial in the third quarter worth $54,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 14.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Esquire Financial in the fourth quarter worth $207,000. Institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

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.