Contrasting Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) & Intercorp Financial Services (NYSE:IFS)

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

Volatility & Risk

Esquire Financial has a beta of 0.74, indicating that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Intercorp Financial Services has a beta of 1.29, indicating that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Esquire Financial and Intercorp Financial Services, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Esquire Financial	0	1	1	1	3.00
Intercorp Financial Services	0	0	1	0	3.00

Esquire Financial presently has a consensus target price of $71.67, suggesting a potential downside of 8.83%. Intercorp Financial Services has a consensus target price of $30.00, suggesting a potential upside of 3.31%. Given Intercorp Financial Services’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Intercorp Financial Services is more favorable than Esquire Financial.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Esquire Financial and Intercorp Financial Services”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Esquire Financial	$120.71 million	5.42	$41.01 million	$4.97	15.82
Intercorp Financial Services	$6.22 billion	0.54	$286.85 million	$2.55	11.39

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

Dividends

Esquire Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. Intercorp Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $0.95 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Esquire Financial pays out 12.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Intercorp Financial Services pays out 37.3% 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.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

54.7% of Esquire Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 18.9% of Esquire Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Esquire Financial and Intercorp Financial Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Esquire Financial	31.38%	19.53%	2.47%
Intercorp Financial Services	18.00%	10.67%	1.18%

Summary

Esquire Financial beats Intercorp Financial Services on 10 of the 15 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 Intercorp Financial Services

Intercorp Financial Services Inc., together with its subsidiaries, offers banking, insurance, wealth management, and payment services for retail and commercial clients in Peru. The company provides loans, credit facilities, deposits, and current accounts; life annuity products with single-premium payment and conventional life insurance products, as well as other retail insurance products; and brokerage and investment management services. It engages in the development, management, operation, and processing of credit and debit cards; facilitation of payments and services through commercial stores; and installation and maintenance of infrastructure for transactions through electronic commerce modality and networks of payment methods processors. The company was incorporated in 1897 and is based in Lima, Peru. Intercorp Financial Services Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Intercorp Perú Ltd.