Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ - Get Free Report) released its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.38 by ($0.01), Zacks reports. Esquire Financial had a net margin of 31.38% and a return on equity of 19.53%.

Esquire Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ ESQ traded down $2.88 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $86.12. The stock had a trading volume of 86,018 shares, compared to its average volume of 76,837. The stock has a market cap of $716.52 million, a PE ratio of 17.33 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $78.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.35. Esquire Financial has a 1 year low of $44.45 and a 1 year high of $90.00.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. Esquire Financial's payout ratio is currently 12.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Esquire Financial

In related news, Director Joseph Melohn sold 3,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Selig Zises sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.77, for a total transaction of $614,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 62,601 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,805,878.77. This represents a 11.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 18.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ESQ shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Esquire Financial from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a report on Friday, October 25th.

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.