Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.18

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of 0.175 per share on Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15.

Esquire Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 10.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Esquire Financial to earn $6.02 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 10.0%.

Esquire Financial Trading Up 2.5 %

Esquire Financial stock opened at $87.42 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $727.33 million, a P/E ratio of 16.94 and a beta of 0.73. Esquire Financial has a twelve month low of $44.45 and a twelve month high of $90.00. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.75.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by ($0.01). Esquire Financial had a net margin of 31.58% and a return on equity of 19.93%. Sell-side analysts predict that Esquire Financial will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on ESQ. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Esquire Financial from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $85.00 price target (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Esquire Financial in a research note on Monday. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Esquire Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Selig Zises sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.77, for a total transaction of $614,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 62,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,805,878.77. The trade was a 11.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph Melohn sold 3,000 shares of the business’s 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 owns 3,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $291,509.45. This represents a 44.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 18.90% 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.