Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $61.70, but opened at $63.69. Esquire Financial shares last traded at $63.69, with a volume of 1,566 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Esquire Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $72.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Esquire Financial Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.09. The company has a market cap of $557.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.04 and a beta of 0.70.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.99 million. Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 19.92% and a net margin of 31.36%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Esquire Financial

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Esquire Financial by 1.2% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 31,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 4.1% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 11,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Esquire Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Esquire Financial by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 368,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,487,000 after purchasing an additional 966 shares during the period. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its stake in Esquire Financial by 10.6% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 11,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 1,065 shares in the last quarter. 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.