VersaBank (NASDAQ: VBNK – Get a rating) and Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ – Get a rating) are both small-cap finance companies, but which business is superior? We’ll compare the two companies based on valuation strength, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, earnings and dividends.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
24.3% of VersaBank shares are held by institutional investors. By comparison, 51.2% of Esquire Financial’s shares are held by institutional investors. 18.5% of Esquire Financial shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership indicates that large money managers, endowments, and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This chart compares the net margins, return on equity, and return on assets of VersaBank and Esquire Financial.
| Net margins | Return on equity | return on assets | |
| VersaBank | 21.25% | 8.29% | 1.07% |
| Esquire Financial | 28.34% | 14.59% | 1.77% |
Benefits and evaluation
This chart compares gross revenue, earnings per share, and valuation of VersaBank and Esquire Financial.
| Gross revenue | Price/sales ratio | Net revenue | Earnings per share | Price/earnings ratio | |
| VersaBank | $75.30 million | 2.88 | $17.80 million | $0.67 | 11.79 |
| Esquire Financial | $65.56 million | 4.11 | $17.92 million | $2.38 | 14.02 |
Esquire Financial has lower revenues, but higher profits than VersaBank. VersaBank trades at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Esquire Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Notes
This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for VersaBank and Esquire Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sales Ratings | Hold odds | Buy reviews | Strong buy odds | Rating | |
| VersaBank | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.00 |
| Esquire Financial | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N / A |
Dividends
VersaBank pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Esquire Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. VersaBank pays 11.9% of its profits as a dividend. Esquire Financial pays 15.1% of its profits as a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings over the next few years.
Summary
Esquire Financial beats VersaBank on 10 out of 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About VersaBank (Get a rating)
VersaBank, a Schedule I chartered bank, offers various banking products and services in Canada. The Company offers deposit products, such as guaranteed investment certificates, registered retirement savings plans, daily interest savings accounts and tax-free savings accounts, as well as deposit insurance. It also provides lending services, including point-of-sale financing which involves the purchase of loan and lease receivables from financial companies operating in various sectors; and commercial banking services including commercial real estate, public sector/infrastructure financing, condominium financing and residential mortgages. The company was previously known as Pacific & Western Bank of Canada and changed its name to VersaBank in May 2016. VersaBank was incorporated in 1979 and is headquartered in London, Canada.
About Esquire Financial (Get a rating)
Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Esquire Bank, a national association that provides commercial banking products and services to the legal and small business sector, as well as commercial and retail customers in the United States. The company offers checking, savings, money market and term deposits, as well as certificates of deposit. It also provides commercial loans, including short-term financing for inventory, receivables, the purchase of supplies or other operating needs arising in the normal course of business, as well as loans to its merchant customers. qualified; commercial lines of credit; consumer loans consisting of consumer loans and post-settlement structured settlement to plaintiffs and plaintiffs, as well as personal loans for debt consolidation, medical expenses, living expenses, payment of unpaid bills or other consumption needs; and real estate loans, such as multi-family, residential 1-4 family loans, commercial real estate and construction, and merchant services. As of January 25, 2022, the company operated a full-service branch in Jericho, New York; and an administrative office in Boca Raton, Florida. Esquire Financial Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Jericho, New York.
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