Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Stock Price Down 7.4% – Time to Sell?
by Danessa Lincoln · The Markets DailyEsquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ – Get Free Report)’s share price fell 7.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $107.41 and last traded at $106.2050. 94,574 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 3% from the average session volume of 97,278 shares. The stock had previously closed at $114.65.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research firms have weighed in on ESQ. Weiss Ratings lowered Esquire Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Esquire Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $125.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Esquire Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Esquire Financial from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Esquire Financial currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.33.
View Our Latest Analysis on ESQ
Esquire Financial Stock Down 6.4%
The company has a market capitalization of $927.08 million, a P/E ratio of 18.24 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.24.
Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58. The company had revenue of $40.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.76 million. Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 18.28% and a net margin of 30.90%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Esquire Financial Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.61%.
Insider Transactions at Esquire Financial
In other news, Director Richard T. Powers sold 2,308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.83, for a total value of $241,947.64. Following the sale, the director directly owned 58,233 shares in the company, valued at $6,104,565.39. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Selig Zises sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.10, for a total value of $525,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $683,255.10. This trade represents a 43.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,308 shares of company stock worth $3,430,948. Corporate insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Trading of Esquire Financial
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ampfield Management L.P. raised its holdings in Esquire Financial by 23.0% during the first quarter. Ampfield Management L.P. now owns 233,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,071,000 after acquiring an additional 43,633 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in Esquire Financial by 11.7% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 2,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in Esquire Financial by 247.8% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Esquire Financial by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 40,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,182,000 after acquiring an additional 1,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in Esquire Financial by 57.6% during the fourth quarter. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 25,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,576,000 after acquiring an additional 9,222 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.
Esquire Financial Company Profile
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.