First Community (FCCO) Competitors

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) and Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, profitability, dividends, community ranking, earnings, risk and institutional ownership.

Does the media favor FCCO or ESQ?

In the previous week, Esquire Financial had 16 more articles in the media than First Community. MarketBeat recorded 20 mentions for Esquire Financial and 4 mentions for First Community. First Community's average media sentiment score of 0.61 beat Esquire Financial's score of 0.22 indicating that First Community is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Community	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Esquire Financial	2 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is FCCO or ESQ more profitable?

Esquire Financial has a net margin of 31.58% compared to First Community's net margin of 13.49%. Esquire Financial's return on equity of 19.93% beat First Community's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Community	13.49%	10.14%	0.73%
Esquire Financial	31.58%	19.93%	2.54%

Which has more volatility and risk, FCCO or ESQ?

First Community has a beta of 0.42, indicating that its share price is 58% 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.

Do analysts prefer FCCO or ESQ?

First Community currently has a consensus target price of $29.50, suggesting a potential upside of 13.77%. Esquire Financial has a consensus target price of $88.00, suggesting a potential downside of 1.53%. Given First Community's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe First Community is more favorable than Esquire Financial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Community	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.50
Esquire Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Does the MarketBeat Community favor FCCO or ESQ?

Esquire Financial received 21 more outperform votes than First Community when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 57.48% of users gave Esquire Financial an outperform vote while only 44.53% of users gave First Community an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
First Community	Outperform Votes 175 44.53%	Underperform Votes 218 55.47%
Esquire Financial	Outperform Votes 196 57.48%	Underperform Votes 145 42.52%

Is FCCO or ESQ a better dividend stock?

First Community pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Esquire Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. First Community pays out 33.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Esquire Financial pays out 11.6% 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.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in FCCO or ESQ?

61.3% of First Community shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.7% of Esquire Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 3.0% of First Community shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 18.9% of Esquire Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has better valuation & earnings, FCCO or ESQ?

Esquire Financial has higher revenue and earnings than First Community. First Community is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Esquire Financial, 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
First Community	$103.43M	1.92	$13.95M	$1.81	14.33
Esquire Financial	$138.27M	5.38	$43.66M	$5.16	17.32

Summary

Esquire Financial beats First Community on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.