Esquire Financial (ESQ)
Banks contingent-fee law firms nationwide, funding case loans with their own trust deposits.
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Finances plaintiff-side, contingent-fee law firms with case-cost and working-capital loans while running a national small-business payment-processing business, all funded by low-cost attorney trust and escrow deposits that produce a net interest margin well above typical regional-bank levels.
Operates a branchless national commercial bank built around two specialized verticals: financing plaintiff-side, contingent-fee law firms with case-cost credit lines and working-capital loans, and providing payment processing for small businesses nationwide.
Law firm clients keep non-interest-bearing operating accounts and attorney trust (IOLTA) and escrow deposits at the bank alongside their loans, giving the franchise a low-cost deposit base that funds a higher-yielding, variable-rate litigation loan book and produces a net interest margin well above the typical regional bank.
A New York-area retail and commercial book, dating to the bank's 2006 founding, remains a smaller legacy line beside the two national verticals. Since its 2017 initial public offering, growth has centered on those verticals; a pending all-stock merger with a Chicago-area bank, the company's first major acquisition, targets a 2026 close subject to regulatory and shareholder approval.
Company facts
Categories
Target rangeAs of Sep 2, 2026
Latest analyst notes
| Date | Firm | Action | Prior rating | Rating | Prior target | Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 13, 2026 | Raymond James | Upgrade | Market Perform | Strong Buy | $125 | |
| Oct 29, 2025 | Piper Sandler | Reiterate | Overweight | $61 | $116 | |
| Jan 24, 2025 | Raymond James | Downgrade | Strong Buy | Market Perform | ||
| Oct 2, 2024 | Keefe, Bruyette & Woods | Downgrade | Outperform | Market Perform |
EPSReportedEstimate
RevenueReportedEstimate
Balance sheet, Jun 30, 2026Cash & short-term investments $541.6M · Total debt $0 · Total assets $2.51B · Shareholders' equity $313.9M
- Revenue
- $47.7M
- Operating income
- $18.1M
- Net income
- $13.0M
Raised for 2 straight years — most recently to $0.20 from $0.175 in Feb 2026. To collect a payout, hold shares through the close before the ex-date.
History
| Ex-date | Record | Paid | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 14, 2026 | Aug 14 | Sep 1 | $0.20 | |
| May 15, 2026 | May 15 | Jun 1 | $0.20 | |
| Feb 13, 2026 | Feb 13 | Mar 2 | $0.20 | raised from $0.175 |
| Nov 14, 2025 | Nov 14 | Dec 1 | $0.175 | |
| Aug 15, 2025 | Aug 15 | Sep 2 | $0.175 | |
| May 15, 2025 | May 15 | Jun 2 | $0.175 | |
| Feb 14, 2025 | Feb 14 | Mar 3 | $0.175 | raised from $0.15 |
| Nov 15, 2024 | Nov 15 | Dec 2 | $0.15 |
| Institutions168 holders · as of Jun 30, 2026 · largest filers plus last quarter's tail | ≈ 74.38% | 6.43M shares | |
| Insiders16 holders · as of Aug 27, 2026 | 17.48% | 1.51M shares | |
| Strategic holders1 holder · as of Jan 29, 2024 | 6.08% | 525.7K shares | |
| Otherremainder | ≈ 2.06% | 178.2K shares |
8.64M company shares as of Sep 3, 2026 · institutions as of Jun 30, 2026 · holders as of their latest filing
This quarter's institutional total failed a plausibility check; shown: the largest filers plus last quarter's remainder.
Top shareholders13F · 13D/G · Form 4
| Holder | Stake | Shares | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
BlackRock, Inc.Institution | 6.96% | 601,624 | 13Fas of Jun 30, 2026 |
Mawer Investment Management Ltd.Institution | 6.76% | 583,871 | 13Fas of Jun 30, 2026 |
BlackRock, Inc.Strategic | 6.08% | 525,653 | 13D/Gfiled Jan 29, 2024 ↗ |
Pacific Ridge Capital Partners, LLCInstitution | 4.40% | 380,327 | 13G/Afiled Feb 14, 2022 ↗ |
Basswood Capital Management, L.L.C.Institution | 4.28% | 369,416 | 13Fas of Jun 30, 2026 |
| See all 25 → | |||
13F — a manager's quarterly holdings · 13D/13G — an ownership statement filed at 5% or more
Insider tradesForm 4
| Date | Insider | Role | Shares | Avg price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 30, 2026 | Robert Mitzman | director | −3,000 | $129.60 |
| Mar 19, 2026 | Selig Zises | director | −5,000 | $105.10 |
| Mar 18, 2026 | Selig Zises | director | −25,000 | $106.54 |
| Mar 19, 2026 | Richard T. Powers | director | −2,308 | $104.83 |
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ComparePre-market
| Company | Price | Change | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Esquire Financial | $115.11 | +0.41% | $989.0M | 18.9 | 14.5 | 5.5 | +17.6% |
| Flagstar Bank | $13.77 | +2.05% | $5.62B | 725.3 | 17.2 | 1.3 | +4.0% |
| Metropolitan Bank | $91.31 | −0.19% | $1.13B | 11.6 | 8.9 | 2.7 | +22.0% |
| JPMorgan Chase | $357.08 | +0.24% | $954.50B | 15.3 | 14.8 | 3.2 | +27.8% |
| Burford Capital | $4.29 | +0.70% | $931.0M | 30.4 | 6.4 | — | −36.7% |
| Amalgamated Financial | $48.14 | −0.04% | $1.44B | 12.8 | 11.2 | 3.0 | +18.8% |
| Median | 15.3 | 11.2 | 2.8 | +18.8% |