Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) versus Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Critical Comparison

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) and Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability and institutional ownership.

Risk & Volatility

Wells Fargo & Company has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Esquire Financial has a beta of 0.4, meaning that its share price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

75.9% of Wells Fargo & Company shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.7% of Esquire Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Wells Fargo & Company shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.9% of Esquire Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Wells Fargo & Company pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Esquire Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Wells Fargo & Company pays out 29.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Esquire Financial pays out 13.2% 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. Wells Fargo & Company has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Esquire Financial has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Wells Fargo & Company and Esquire Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wells Fargo & Company	0	7	16	2	2.80
Esquire Financial	0	1	2	1	3.00

Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus price target of $99.47, indicating a potential upside of 18.89%. Esquire Financial has a consensus price target of $120.33, indicating a potential upside of 1.49%. Given Wells Fargo & Company’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Wells Fargo & Company is more favorable than Esquire Financial.

Profitability

This table compares Wells Fargo & Company and Esquire Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wells Fargo & Company	17.55%	13.85%	1.06%
Esquire Financial	29.30%	18.22%	2.27%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Wells Fargo & Company and Esquire Financial”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wells Fargo & Company	$123.53 billion	2.05	$21.34 billion	$6.88	12.16
Esquire Financial	$164.50 million	8.72	$50.82 million	$6.06	19.57

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

Summary

Wells Fargo & Company beats Esquire Financial on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Co. is a diversified and community-based financial services company, which engages in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management. The Consumer Banking and Lending segment offers consumer and small business banking, home lending, credit cards, auto, and personal lending. The Commercial Banking segment provides banking and credit products across industry sectors and municipalities, secured lending and lease products, and treasury management. The Corporate and Investment Banking segment is composed of corporate banking, investment banking, treasury management, commercial real estate lending and servicing, and equity and fixed income solutions, as well as sales, trading, and research capabilities. The Wealth and Investment Management segment refers to personalized wealth management, brokerage, financial planning, lending, private banking, trust, and fiduciary products and services. The company was founded by Henry Wells and William G. Fargo on March 18, 1852 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

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.