Esquire Financial (ESQ) Competitors

Park National (NYSE:PRK) and Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, profitability, community ranking, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, media sentiment, risk and valuation.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer PRK or ESQ?

Esquire Financial received 196 more outperform votes than Park National when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 57.48% of users gave Esquire Financial an outperform vote while only 0.00% of users gave Park National an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Park National	Outperform Votes No Votes	Underperform Votes 17 100.00%
Esquire Financial	Outperform Votes 196 57.48%	Underperform Votes 145 42.52%

Does the media favor PRK or ESQ?

In the previous week, Park National had 31 more articles in the media than Esquire Financial. MarketBeat recorded 32 mentions for Park National and 1 mentions for Esquire Financial. Esquire Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.95 beat Park National's score of -0.35 indicating that Esquire Financial is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Park National	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	15 Neutral mention(s)	11 Negative mention(s)	3 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Esquire Financial	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do analysts recommend PRK or ESQ?

Park National presently has a consensus price target of $181.75, suggesting a potential upside of 8.94%. Esquire Financial has a consensus price target of $88.00, suggesting a potential upside of 7.45%. Given Park National's higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Park National is more favorable than Esquire Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Park National	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Esquire Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Which has more volatility and risk, PRK or ESQ?

Park National has a beta of 0.73, indicating that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Esquire Financial has a beta of 0.73, indicating that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better earnings and valuation, PRK or ESQ?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Park National	$645.55M	4.18	$151.42M	$9.31	17.92
Esquire Financial	$124.82M	5.46	$43.66M	$5.16	15.87

Do insiders and institutionals believe in PRK or ESQ?

62.7% of Park National shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.7% of Esquire Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.7% of Park National shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 18.9% of Esquire Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is PRK or ESQ a better dividend stock?

Park National pays an annual dividend of $4.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Esquire Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Park National pays out 46.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Esquire Financial pays out 13.6% 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.

Is PRK or ESQ more profitable?

Esquire Financial has a net margin of 31.58% compared to Park National's net margin of 23.46%. Esquire Financial's return on equity of 19.93% beat Park National's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Park National	23.46%	12.31%	1.50%
Esquire Financial	31.58%	19.93%	2.54%

Summary

Esquire Financial beats Park National on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.