Head-To-Head Contrast: Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) versus SB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SBFG)

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) and SB Financial Group (NASDAQ:SBFG) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, risk and valuation.

Dividends

Esquire Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. SB Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Esquire Financial pays out 13.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. SB Financial Group pays out 25.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Esquire Financial has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and SB Financial Group has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years. SB Financial Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Esquire Financial and SB Financial Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Esquire Financial	$164.50 million	5.78	$50.82 million	$5.95	18.49
SB Financial Group	$91.03 million	1.53	$13.97 million	$2.56	8.68

Esquire Financial has higher revenue and earnings than SB Financial Group. SB Financial Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Esquire Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Esquire Financial and SB Financial Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Esquire Financial	0	1	2	1	3.00
SB Financial Group	0	1	1	0	2.50

Esquire Financial currently has a consensus price target of $120.33, suggesting a potential upside of 9.36%. Given Esquire Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Esquire Financial is more favorable than SB Financial Group.

Risk & Volatility

Esquire Financial has a beta of 0.39, indicating that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SB Financial Group has a beta of 0.2, indicating that its stock price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Esquire Financial and SB Financial Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Esquire Financial	29.96%	18.30%	2.30%
SB Financial Group	17.22%	11.52%	1.04%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

54.7% of Esquire Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.7% of SB Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. 18.0% of Esquire Financial shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.0% of SB Financial Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Esquire Financial beats SB Financial Group on 15 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Esquire Financial

Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Esquire Bank, National Association that provides commercial banking products and services to legal industry and small businesses, and commercial and retail customers in the United States. The company offers checking, savings, money market, and time deposits, as well as certificates of deposit. It also provides commercial loans, such as short-term financing for inventory, receivables, the purchase of supplies, or other operating needs arising during the normal course of business, as well as loans to its qualified ISO customers; commercial lines of credit; consumer loans consisting of post-settlement consumer and structured settlement loans to plaintiffs and claimants, as well as loans to individuals for debt consolidation, medical expenses, living expenses, payment of outstanding bills, or other consumer needs; and real estate loans, such as multifamily, 1-4 family residential, commercial real estate, and construction loans, as well as merchant services. In addition, it offers cash management, cash sweep, online and mobile banking, individual retirement accounts, and working capital lines of credit. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Jericho, New York.

About SB Financial Group

SB Financial Group, Inc. operates as the financial holding company for the State Bank and Trust Company that provides a range of commercial banking and wealth management services to individual and corporate customers primarily in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. It offers checking, savings, money market accounts, as well as time certificates of deposit; and commercial, consumer, agricultural, and residential mortgage loans. The company also provides automatic teller machine, personal and corporate trust, commercial leasing, bank credit card, safe deposit box rental, internet banking, private client group, and other personalized banking products and services; and various trust and financial services comprising asset management services for individuals and corporate employee benefit plans, as well as brokerage services. In addition, it sells insurance products to retail and commercial customers. The company was formerly known as Rurban Financial Corp. and changed its name to SB Financial Group, Inc. in April 2013. SB Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1902 and is based in Defiance, Ohio.