Short Interest in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) Drops By 26.3%

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 434,300 shares, a decrease of 26.3% from the February 13th total of 589,000 shares. Currently, 6.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 76,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.7 days.

Esquire Financial Price Performance

ESQ stock traded up $1.74 during trading on Friday, hitting $73.10. The stock had a trading volume of 38,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 43,259. The stock has a market capitalization of $608.27 million, a P/E ratio of 14.17 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $81.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.67. Esquire Financial has a twelve month low of $44.45 and a twelve month high of $90.18.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.38 by ($0.01). Esquire Financial had a net margin of 31.58% and a return on equity of 19.93%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Esquire Financial will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.175 dividend. This is an increase from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Esquire Financial’s payout ratio is 13.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Transactions at Esquire Financial

In other news, Director Richard T. Powers sold 1,427 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.99, for a total transaction of $124,134.73. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 58,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,132,149.03. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Melohn sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.15, for a total value of $237,450.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $291,509.45. This represents a 44.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,427 shares of company stock worth $1,913,385. 18.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Esquire Financial

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESQ. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Esquire Financial in the third quarter worth $54,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 151.0% during 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 14.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Esquire Financial during the third quarter worth $180,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Esquire Financial during the fourth quarter worth $207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

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.