Raymond James hikes Esquire Financial rating on Signature Bancorp deal

Esquire Financial Holdings

13/03/2026 10:37

** Raymond James upgrades shares of community lender Esquire Financial ESQ.O to "strong buy" from "market perform"

** Says the acquisition of privately held, Chicago-based Signature Bancorporation with $2 bln in assets is highly accretive, improves bank’s growth profile and supports an upward bias to estimates

** The deal is expected to close in 3Q26 and be 23% accretive to 2027E EPS - Raymond James

** Two of three analysts rate stock "strong buy" or "buy" and one "hold"; their median PT is $121 - data compiled by LSEG

** YTD, as of last close, ESQ up 3.8%

(Reporting by Pragyan Kalita in Bengaluru)

((Pragyan.Kalita@thomsonreuters.com;))