Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Esquire Financial in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Esquire Financial from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Esquire Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy” and an average price target of $122.50.

Esquire Financial Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of ESQ stock opened at $127.70 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.29. Esquire Financial has a 52 week low of $92.10 and a 52 week high of $134.82. The company has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a PE ratio of 21.25 and a beta of 0.40.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $61.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.93 million. Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 21.49% and a net margin of 26.92%. Equities research analysts expect that Esquire Financial will post 7.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Esquire Financial

In other Esquire Financial news, CEO Andrew Sagliocca sold 10,000 shares of Esquire Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.73, for a total transaction of $1,227,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 288,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,444,178.54. The trade was a 3.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 13.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ESQ. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Esquire Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $71,659,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Esquire Financial during the second quarter valued at $44,001,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Esquire Financial by 418.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 87,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,409,000 after purchasing an additional 70,646 shares in the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Esquire Financial in the first quarter valued at about $6,593,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Esquire Financial by 471.4% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 56,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,020,000 after purchasing an additional 46,200 shares during the last quarter. 54.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Esquire Financial Company Profile

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc is the bank holding company for Esquire Bank, a federally chartered community bank headquartered in Jericho, New York. Esquire Bank primarily serves law firms, attorneys, and other professional-service businesses, as well as small and middle-market companies, entrepreneurs, and individuals.

The bank provides commercial banking products and services that include business checking and savings accounts, commercial loans, lines of credit, commercial real estate financing, construction lending, and small business lending.