SR Bancorp (NASDAQ:SRBK) vs. Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) Head-To-Head Review

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Esquire Financial and SR Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Esquire Financial	0	1	2	1	3.00
SR Bancorp	0	1	1	0	2.50

Esquire Financial presently has a consensus target price of $120.33, indicating a potential upside of 5.82%. SR Bancorp has a consensus target price of $19.00, indicating a potential upside of 0.96%. Given Esquire Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Esquire Financial is more favorable than SR Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Esquire Financial and SR Bancorp’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%
SR Bancorp	6.39%	1.41%	0.24%

Volatility & Risk

Esquire Financial has a beta of 0.39, meaning that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SR Bancorp has a beta of 0.58, meaning that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Esquire Financial and SR Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Esquire Financial	$164.50 million	5.97	$50.82 million	$5.95	19.11
SR Bancorp	$48.54 million	3.14	$5.14 million	$0.42	44.81

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

Dividends

Esquire Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. SR Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Esquire Financial pays out 13.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. SR Bancorp pays out 47.6% 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 increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

54.7% of Esquire Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.7% of SR Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.9% of Esquire Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.8% of SR Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Esquire Financial beats SR Bancorp 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 SR Bancorp

SR Bancorp, Inc. operates as the holding company for Somerset Regal Bank that provides customary retail and commercial banking services to individuals, businesses, and local municipalities in the communities of Somerset, Middlesex, Hunterdon, and Essex counties in New Jersey. It offers deposit instruments, including noninterest-bearing demand deposits, interest-bearing demand accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides loans comprising one- to four family-residential mortgage loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, unsecured personal loans, and rehabilitation loans; and bill payment services. In addition, it is involved in the investment activities. The company was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Bound Brook, New Jersey.