Esquire Financial (ESQ) Competitors

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) and First Hawaiian (NASDAQ:FHB) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, community ranking, valuation, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and media sentiment.

Does the media prefer ESQ or FHB?

In the previous week, First Hawaiian had 1 more articles in the media than Esquire Financial. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for First Hawaiian and 5 mentions for Esquire Financial. First Hawaiian's average media sentiment score of 1.60 beat Esquire Financial's score of 0.18 indicating that First Hawaiian is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Esquire Financial	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
First Hawaiian	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in ESQ or FHB?

54.7% of Esquire Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.6% of First Hawaiian shares are owned by institutional investors. 18.0% of Esquire Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of First Hawaiian shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts prefer ESQ or FHB?

Esquire Financial presently has a consensus target price of $92.50, suggesting a potential downside of 0.27%. First Hawaiian has a consensus target price of $27.29, suggesting a potential upside of 13.48%. Given First Hawaiian's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe First Hawaiian is more favorable than Esquire Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Esquire Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
First Hawaiian	3 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.57

Which has more volatility & risk, ESQ or FHB?

Esquire Financial has a beta of 0.53, indicating that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Hawaiian has a beta of 0.83, indicating that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, ESQ or FHB?

First Hawaiian has higher revenue and earnings than Esquire Financial. First Hawaiian is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Esquire Financial, 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
Esquire Financial	$129.33M	6.07	$43.66M	$5.29	17.53
First Hawaiian	$780.50M	3.87	$230.13M	$1.84	13.07

Is ESQ or FHB more profitable?

Esquire Financial has a net margin of 31.58% compared to First Hawaiian's net margin of 19.74%. Esquire Financial's return on equity of 19.93% beat First Hawaiian's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Esquire Financial	31.58%	19.93%	2.54%
First Hawaiian	19.74%	8.91%	0.96%

Is ESQ or FHB a better dividend stock?

Esquire Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. First Hawaiian pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Esquire Financial pays out 13.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Hawaiian pays out 56.5% 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.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in ESQ or FHB?

First Hawaiian received 84 more outperform votes than Esquire Financial when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 57.31% of users gave Esquire Financial an outperform vote while only 49.56% of users gave First Hawaiian an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Esquire Financial	Outperform Votes 196 57.31%	Underperform Votes 146 42.69%
First Hawaiian	Outperform Votes 280 49.56%	Underperform Votes 285 50.44%

Summary

Esquire Financial beats First Hawaiian on 12 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.