Critical Contrast: Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) versus Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN)

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) and Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, risk and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

80.7% of Huntington Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.2% of Enterprise Financial Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Huntington Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.3% of Enterprise Financial Services shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Huntington Bancshares has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Enterprise Financial Services has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its share price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Huntington Bancshares and Enterprise Financial Services”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Huntington Bancshares	$11.96 billion	2.17	$1.94 billion	$1.43	12.41
Enterprise Financial Services	$920.75 million	2.26	$185.27 million	$5.14	10.92

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

Dividends

Huntington Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.62 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Enterprise Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Huntington Bancshares pays out 43.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Enterprise Financial Services pays out 24.9% 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. Enterprise Financial Services has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Huntington Bancshares and Enterprise Financial Services, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Huntington Bancshares	1	4	14	2	2.81
Enterprise Financial Services	0	1	3	0	2.75

Huntington Bancshares currently has a consensus target price of $19.64, indicating a potential upside of 10.64%. Enterprise Financial Services has a consensus target price of $65.67, indicating a potential upside of 16.97%. Given Enterprise Financial Services’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Enterprise Financial Services is more favorable than Huntington Bancshares.

Profitability

This table compares Huntington Bancshares and Enterprise Financial Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Huntington Bancshares	18.06%	12.14%	1.09%
Enterprise Financial Services	19.98%	10.82%	1.24%

Summary

Huntington Bancshares beats Enterprise Financial Services on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Huntington Bancshares

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated operates as the bank holding company for The Huntington National Bank that provides commercial, consumer, and mortgage banking services in the United States. The company offers financial products and services to consumer and business customers, including deposits, lending, payments, mortgage banking, dealer financing, investment management, trust, brokerage, insurance, and other financial products and services. It also provides 24-hour grace, asterisk-free checking, money scout, $50 safety zone, standby cash, early pay, instant access, savings goal getter, and Huntington heads up; digitally powered consumer and business financial solutions to consumer lending, regional banking, branch banking, and wealth management customers; direct and indirect consumer loans, as well as dealer finance loans and deposits; and private banking, wealth management and legacy planning through investment and portfolio management, fiduciary administration and trust, institutional custody, and full-service retail brokerage investment services. The company offers equipment financing, asset-based lending, distribution finance, structured lending, and municipal financing solutions, as well as Huntington ChoicePay. In addition, it offers lending, liquidity, treasury management and other payment services, and capital markets; government and non-profits, healthcare, technology and telecommunications, franchises, financial sponsors, and global services; and corporate risk management, institutional sales and trading, debt and equity issuance, and additional advisory services. The company offers its products through a network of channels, including branches and ATMs, online and mobile banking, and through customer call centers to customers in middle market banking, corporate, specialty, and government banking, asset finance, commercial real estate banking, and capital markets. The company was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

About Enterprise Financial Services

Enterprise Financial Services Corp operates as the holding company for Enterprise Bank & Trust that offers banking and wealth management services to individuals and corporate customers primarily in Arizona, California, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, and New Mexico. It provides checking, savings, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, real estate construction and development, residential real estate, small business administration, agricultural, consumer, and other loan products. In addition, it offers treasury management and international trade services; tax credit brokerage services; life insurance premium and sponsor finance; tax credit related lending; other deposit accounts, such as community associations, property management, third party escrow, and trust services; treasury management product and services; customized solutions and products; cash management; fiduciary, investment management, and financial advisory services; and customer hedging products, including international banking, card services, and tax credit businesses. Further, the company provides online, device applications, text, and voice banking; remote deposit capture; internet banking, mobile banking, cash management, positive pay services, fraud detection and prevention, automated payables, check image, and statement and document imaging; and controlled disbursements, repurchase agreements, and sweep investment accounts. Enterprise Financial Services Corp was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Clayton, Missouri.