First United (FUNC) Competitors

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) and First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, community ranking, risk, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Is ESQ or FUNC a better dividend stock?

Esquire Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. First United pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Esquire Financial pays out 13.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First United pays out 25.3% 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. Esquire Financial has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years and First United has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years. First United is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do insiders & institutionals believe in ESQ or FUNC?

54.7% of Esquire Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 33.3% of First United shares are owned by institutional investors. 18.0% of Esquire Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 7.9% of First United shares are owned 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.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in ESQ or FUNC?

Esquire Financial received 53 more outperform votes than First United when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 65.00% of users gave First United an outperform vote while only 57.31% of users gave Esquire Financial an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Esquire Financial	Outperform Votes 196 57.31%	Underperform Votes 146 42.69%
First United	Outperform Votes 143 65.00%	Underperform Votes 77 35.00%

Does the media favor ESQ or FUNC?

In the previous week, Esquire Financial had 3 more articles in the media than First United. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Esquire Financial and 2 mentions for First United. First United's average media sentiment score of 1.91 beat Esquire Financial's score of 0.71 indicating that First United 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)	Positive
First United	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do analysts prefer ESQ or FUNC?

Esquire Financial currently has a consensus target price of $92.50, suggesting a potential upside of 0.65%. First United has a consensus target price of $42.00, suggesting a potential upside of 41.51%. Given First United's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First United 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 United	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Is ESQ or FUNC more profitable?

Esquire Financial has a net margin of 31.58% compared to First United's net margin of 18.45%. Esquire Financial's return on equity of 19.93% beat First United's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Esquire Financial	31.58%	19.93%	2.54%
First United	18.45%	12.51%	1.11%

Which has more volatility & risk, ESQ or FUNC?

Esquire Financial has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First United has a beta of 0.61, suggesting that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, ESQ or FUNC?

Esquire Financial has higher revenue and earnings than First United. First United 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	6.01	$43.66M	$5.29	17.37
First United	$82.03M	2.34	$20.57M	$3.48	8.53

Summary

Esquire Financial beats First United on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.