Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Shares Up 6.6% – Here’s Why

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) traded up 6.6% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $106.73 and last traded at $105.5740. 60,033 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 26% from the average session volume of 81,007 shares. The stock had previously closed at $99.04.

More Esquire Financial News

Here are the key news stories impacting Esquire Financial this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Esquire agreed to acquire Illinois‑based Signature Bancorporation in an all‑stock transaction valued at about $348.4 million, expanding Esquire into the Chicago commercial‑banking market and adding a large litigation/legal vertical that management says will drive growth and diversification. ESQ to Acquire Signature Bancorporation (PR Newswire)
• Positive Sentiment: Major media/regional coverage highlights deal scale and strategic fit (Chicago market entry and legal‑services client expansion), reinforcing investor confidence in the acquisition rationale. Esquire entering Chicago market with $348M merger (BizJournals)
• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James upgraded ESQ from Market Perform to Strong Buy and set a $125 price target, signaling analyst support for the accretive potential of the Signature deal and providing a visible upside catalyst for investors. Raymond James upgrades Esquire to Strong Buy (StreetInsider)
• Neutral Sentiment: Management held an M&A call and provided a slideshow/transcript with deal details and integration plans — useful for modeling expected cost saves, revenue cross‑sell and timing of accretion. Investors should review the transcript/slideshow for assumptions. ESQ M&A Call Transcript (Seeking Alpha)
• Neutral Sentiment: Market technicals: volume is above average and the shares are trading higher on the news; watch integration execution, share issuance impact (all‑stock deal) and modeled EPS accretion over the next 12–24 months.
• Negative Sentiment: Investor‑rights firm Halper Sadeh launched an investigation into whether the merger is fair to Esquire shareholders, raising the possibility of litigation or delays that could complicate deal timing or terms. Halper Sadeh investigating ESQ merger (BusinessWire)

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ESQ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Esquire Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Esquire Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $125.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Esquire Financial from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Esquire Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $120.33.

Esquire Financial Trading Up 3.8%

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $107.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $103.19. The stock has a market cap of $942.61 million, a P/E ratio of 18.71 and a beta of 0.47.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.56 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $39.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.93 million. Esquire Financial had a return on equity of 18.72% and a net margin of 30.90%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This is a positive change from Esquire Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ESQ. Langdon Equity Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Esquire Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $14,609,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Esquire Financial by 215.3% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 81,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,113,000 after acquiring an additional 55,367 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Esquire Financial by 86.5% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 69,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,113,000 after acquiring an additional 32,326 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Esquire Financial by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 265,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,105,000 after purchasing an additional 27,528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Esquire Financial in the second quarter valued at about $2,438,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Esquire Financial Company Profile

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.