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

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

Esquire Financial Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Esquire Financial stock traded down $0.13 on Thursday, hitting $73.42. The stock had a trading volume of 37,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 43,396. Esquire Financial has a one year low of $44.45 and a one year high of $90.18. The stock has a market cap of $610.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.23 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $80.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.91.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.38 by ($0.01). Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 19.93% and a net margin of 31.58%. As a group, equities analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.175 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Esquire Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.57%.

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Insider Activity at Esquire Financial

In other Esquire Financial news, Director Selig Zises sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.59, for a total transaction of $1,551,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,501 shares in the company, valued at $2,754,522.59. This trade represents a 36.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard T. Powers sold 1,427 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.99, for a total transaction of $124,134.73. Following the transaction, the director now owns 58,997 shares in the company, valued at $5,132,149.03. The trade was a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Esquire Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESQ. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Esquire Financial by 151.0% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 788 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Esquire Financial during the third quarter valued at $54,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in Esquire Financial by 14.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,115 shares of the company's stock valued at $138,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in Esquire Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $207,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in Esquire Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $213,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James cut shares of 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 report on Monday, January 27th.

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.