Contrasting ECB Bancorp (NASDAQ:ECBK) and Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ)

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

Profitability

This table compares Esquire Financial and ECB Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Esquire Financial	30.96%	18.87%	2.41%
ECB Bancorp	7.29%	3.17%	0.37%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Esquire Financial and ECB Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Esquire Financial	0	2	1	0	2.33
ECB Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

Esquire Financial presently has a consensus price target of $100.50, indicating a potential upside of 3.60%. Given Esquire Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Esquire Financial is more favorable than ECB Bancorp.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

54.7% of Esquire Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.3% of ECB Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 18.0% of Esquire Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.0% of ECB Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Esquire Financial	$138.27 million	5.99	$43.66 million	$5.42	17.90
ECB Bancorp	$68.27 million	2.18	$3.99 million	$0.64	26.23

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

Volatility and Risk

Esquire Financial has a beta of 0.57, indicating that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ECB Bancorp has a beta of 0.49, indicating that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Esquire Financial beats ECB Bancorp on 13 of the 14 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 ECB Bancorp

ECB Bancorp, Inc. operating as a holding company for Everett Co-operative Bank that provides various banking products and services. The company accepts various deposit products, including certificate of deposit accounts, IRAs, money market accounts, savings accounts, demand deposit accounts, and interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking accounts. It also offers one- to four-family residential real estate, commercial real estate and multifamily real estate, construction and land, commercial, and consumer loans, as well as home equity loans and lines of credit. In addition, the company invests in securities, consisting primarily of U.S. government and federal agency obligations, mortgage-backed securities, and corporate bonds. ECB Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1890 and is based in Everett, Massachusetts.