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

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) shares 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 changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Esquire Financial Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $533.32 million, a P/E ratio of 13.79 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $60.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.85.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $33.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.99 million. Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 19.92% and a net margin of 31.36%. Analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Esquire Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in Esquire Financial during the 1st quarter worth $42,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $59,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank bought a new stake in Esquire Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $91,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Esquire Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $151,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Esquire Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $401,000. 54.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.