Head to Head Review: Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) & Agri Bank China (OTCMKTS:ACGBY)

Esquire Financial (NASDAQ:ESQ) and Agri Bank China (OTCMKTS:ACGBY) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership and earnings.

Volatility and Risk

Esquire Financial has a beta of 0.35, suggesting that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Agri Bank China has a beta of 0.1, suggesting that its share price is 90% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Esquire Financial and Agri Bank China’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Esquire Financial	29.30%	18.22%	2.27%
Agri Bank China	21.51%	9.38%	0.60%

Dividends

Esquire Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Agri Bank China pays an annual dividend of $0.73 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Esquire Financial pays out 13.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Agri Bank China pays out 25.3% 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. Esquire Financial has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Esquire Financial and Agri Bank China, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Esquire Financial	0	1	2	1	3.00
Agri Bank China	0	2	0	0	2.00

Esquire Financial currently has a consensus price target of $120.33, indicating a potential downside of 1.59%. Given Esquire Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Esquire Financial is more favorable than Agri Bank China.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

54.7% of Esquire Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.9% of Esquire Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Esquire Financial and Agri Bank China”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Esquire Financial	$159.56 million	9.28	$50.82 million	$6.06	20.18
Agri Bank China	$188.76 billion	1.54	$40.48 billion	$2.89	7.19

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

Summary

Esquire Financial beats Agri Bank China on 15 of the 18 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 Agri Bank China

Agricultural Bank of China Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides banking products and services. The company operates through Corporate Banking, Personal Banking, and Treasury Operations segments. It offers demand, personal call, foreign currency call, time or demand optional, foreign exchange call, foreign exchange time, savings, agreed term, and negotiated deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; and loans, including housing, consumer, business, fixed asset, working capital, real estate, and entrusted syndicated loans, as well as trade finances, guarantees and commitments, and loans with custody of export rebates accounts. The company provides credit card, debit card, payment and settlement, private banking, cash management, investment banking, custody, financial market, and financial institution services, as well as trading and wealth management services; and personal fund collection and automatic transfer services. In addition, it offers agro-related personal and corporate banking products and services; telephone, mobile, self-service, television, and SMS banking services; financial leasing services; fund management services; asset custodian services; and insurance and reinsurance related products and services. The company operates domestic branches, including specialized institutions, training institutes, tier-1 branches, tier-2 branches, tier-1 sub-branches, foundation-level branch outlets and other establishments; overseas branches in Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, New York, Dubai International Financial Centre, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Sydney, Luxemburg, Dubai, London, Macao, and Hanoi; and overseas representative offices in Vancouver, Taipei, Sao Paulo, and Dushanbe. The company was founded in 1951 and is based in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.