Enterprise Financial Services (EFSC) Competitors

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) and Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership and community ranking.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, FBNC or EFSC?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Bancorp	$546.25M	3.26	$104.13M	$2.77	15.59
Enterprise Financial Services	$833.64M	2.43	$194.06M	$4.67	11.56

Does the media favor FBNC or EFSC?

In the previous week, Enterprise Financial Services had 10 more articles in the media than First Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 26 mentions for Enterprise Financial Services and 16 mentions for First Bancorp. First Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 0.86 beat Enterprise Financial Services' score of 0.78 indicating that Enterprise Financial Services is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Bancorp	4 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Enterprise Financial Services	6 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals believe in FBNC or EFSC?

68.4% of First Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.2% of Enterprise Financial Services shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of First Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of Enterprise Financial Services shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility & risk, FBNC or EFSC?

First Bancorp has a beta of 1.03, suggesting that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Enterprise Financial Services has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in FBNC or EFSC?

First Bancorp received 123 more outperform votes than Enterprise Financial Services when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.18% of users gave First Bancorp an outperform vote while only 56.97% of users gave Enterprise Financial Services an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Bancorp	Outperform Votes 405 63.18%	Underperform Votes 236 36.82%
Enterprise Financial Services	Outperform Votes 282 56.97%	Underperform Votes 213 43.03%

Is FBNC or EFSC a better dividend stock?

First Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Enterprise Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. First Bancorp pays out 31.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Enterprise Financial Services pays out 22.3% 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.

Do analysts rate FBNC or EFSC?

First Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $37.00, indicating a potential downside of 14.33%. Enterprise Financial Services has a consensus price target of $50.67, indicating a potential downside of 6.17%. Given First Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Enterprise Financial Services is more favorable than First Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.75
Enterprise Financial Services	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Is FBNC or EFSC more profitable?

First Bancorp has a net margin of 20.17% compared to First Bancorp's net margin of 19.61%. First Bancorp's return on equity of 11.06% beat Enterprise Financial Services' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Bancorp	20.17%	8.50%	0.94%
Enterprise Financial Services	19.61%	11.06%	1.24%

Summary

Enterprise Financial Services beats First Bancorp on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.