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

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 Stock Performance

ESQ stock opened at $87.46 on Thursday. Esquire Financial has a 1 year low of $44.45 and a 1 year high of $90.00. The firm has a market cap of $727.63 million, a P/E ratio of 17.68 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $78.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.35.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ESQ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Esquire Financial from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research note on Friday, October 25th.

Insider Activity at Esquire Financial

In other news, Director Joseph Melohn sold 3,000 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.15, for a total value of $237,450.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $291,509.45. The trade was a 44.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Selig Zises sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were 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 owns 62,601 shares in the company, valued at $4,805,878.77. The trade was a 11.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 18.90% of the company’s stock.

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.