Contrasting Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) & Equitable Financial (OTCMKTS:EQFN)

Enterprise Financial Services (NASDAQ:EFSC) and Equitable Financial (OTCMKTS:EQFN) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Enterprise Financial Services and Equitable Financial, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Enterprise Financial Services	0	0	3	0	3.00
Equitable Financial	0	0	0	0	0.00

Enterprise Financial Services currently has a consensus price target of $64.3333, suggesting a potential upside of 18.61%. Given Enterprise Financial Services’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Enterprise Financial Services is more favorable than Equitable Financial.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Enterprise Financial Services and Equitable Financial”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Enterprise Financial Services	$920.75 million	2.18	$185.27 million	$5.27	10.29
Equitable Financial	$31.33 million	1.02	$2.71 million	N/A	N/A

Enterprise Financial Services has higher revenue and earnings than Equitable Financial.

Risk & Volatility

Enterprise Financial Services has a beta of 0.9, meaning that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equitable Financial has a beta of 0.12, meaning that its stock price is 88% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

72.2% of Enterprise Financial Services shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.2% of Equitable Financial shares are held by institutional investors. 2.2% of Enterprise Financial Services shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.3% of Equitable Financial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Enterprise Financial Services and Equitable Financial’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Enterprise Financial Services	21.28%	11.31%	1.30%
Equitable Financial	9.82%	10.12%	0.97%

Summary

Enterprise Financial Services beats Equitable Financial on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Enterprise Financial Services

Enterprise Financial Services Corp operates as the holding company for Enterprise Bank & Trust that offers banking and wealth management services to individuals and corporate customers primarily in Arizona, California, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, and New Mexico. It provides checking, savings, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, real estate construction and development, residential real estate, small business administration, agricultural, consumer, and other loan products. In addition, it offers treasury management and international trade services; tax credit brokerage services; life insurance premium and sponsor finance; tax credit related lending; other deposit accounts, such as community associations, property management, third party escrow, and trust services; treasury management product and services; customized solutions and products; cash management; fiduciary, investment management, and financial advisory services; and customer hedging products, including international banking, card services, and tax credit businesses. Further, the company provides online, device applications, text, and voice banking; remote deposit capture; internet banking, mobile banking, cash management, positive pay services, fraud detection and prevention, automated payables, check image, and statement and document imaging; and controlled disbursements, repurchase agreements, and sweep investment accounts. Enterprise Financial Services Corp was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Clayton, Missouri.

About Equitable Financial

Equitable Financial Corp. operates as the holding company for Equitable Bank that provides various banking products and services in Nebraska, the United States. The company offers checking and savings accounts; recorder checks; online and mobile banking; remote deposit capture; voice banking; credit card processing; debit and gift cards; and safe deposit boxes. It also provides home, home equity, auto, personal, real estate and construction, operating lines of credit, small business administration, and agricultural loans, as well as equipment financing. In addition, the company offers foreign currency and exchanges; financial planning; wealth management; investment advisory; and retirement services. It operates through branches located in Grand Island, North Platte, and Omaha. The company was founded in 1882 and is headquartered in Grand Island, Nebraska.