Ampfield Management L.P. Acquires 43,633 Shares of Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. $ESQ

Ampfield Management L.P. increased its holdings in Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESQ) by 23.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 233,216 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,633 shares during the quarter. Esquire Financial makes up approximately 31.0% of Ampfield Management L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Ampfield Management L.P.’s holdings in Esquire Financial were worth $25,071,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Langdon Equity Partners acquired a new position in shares of Esquire Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $14,609,000. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 215.3% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 81,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,113,000 after acquiring an additional 55,367 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Esquire Financial by 86.5% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 69,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,113,000 after acquiring an additional 32,326 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 11.6% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Esquire Financial by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 800,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,703,000 after acquiring an additional 23,692 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on ESQ shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Esquire Financial from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial upgraded 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, March 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Esquire Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $120.33.

Esquire Financial Stock Performance

Shares of ESQ stock opened at $118.47 on Friday. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $90.57 and a fifty-two week high of $134.82. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $110.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.91 and a beta of 0.39.

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.06. Esquire Financial had a net margin of 29.96% and a return on equity of 18.30%. The company had revenue of $40.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.76 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. will post 6.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Esquire Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Esquire Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.45%.

Esquire Financial 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.