Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 7,427 Shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. $ESQ

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) by 30.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,645 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,427 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.19% of Esquire Financial worth $1,789,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 450,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,990,000 after purchasing an additional 11,699 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 265,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,105,000 after acquiring an additional 27,528 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Esquire Financial by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 800,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,703,000 after acquiring an additional 23,692 shares during the last quarter. Langdon Equity Partners acquired a new position in shares of Esquire Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $14,609,000. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 199,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,405,000 after purchasing an additional 12,242 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Esquire Financial Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of Esquire Financial stock opened at $129.63 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 21.39 and a beta of 0.39. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.57 and a 52 week high of $134.82. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.06.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $42.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.59 million. Esquire Financial had a net margin of 29.30% and a return on equity of 18.59%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESQ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Esquire Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Esquire Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $120.33.

About Esquire Financial

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc is a bank holding company whose principal subsidiary, Esquire Bank, specializes in residential mortgage lending and community banking services. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, the company operates through multiple distribution channels, including retail branches, wholesale and correspondent lending divisions. Esquire Financial focuses on tailored home financing solutions while maintaining a community-oriented approach to banking.

In its mortgage lending business, Esquire Bank originates and services a range of home loan products, including government-insured mortgages (FHA, VA and USDA) as well as conventional conforming and jumbo loans.