Ameris Bancorp (ABCB) Competitors

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) and Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, media sentiment, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, community ranking, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor EWBC or ABCB?

East West Bancorp received 151 more outperform votes than Ameris Bancorp when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 65.56% of users gave Ameris Bancorp an outperform vote while only 64.69% of users gave East West Bancorp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
East West Bancorp	Outperform Votes 566 64.69%	Underperform Votes 309 35.31%
Ameris Bancorp	Outperform Votes 415 65.56%	Underperform Votes 218 34.44%

Does the media refer more to EWBC or ABCB?

In the previous week, East West Bancorp had 11 more articles in the media than Ameris Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 22 mentions for East West Bancorp and 11 mentions for Ameris Bancorp. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.59 beat East West Bancorp's score of 1.22 indicating that Ameris Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
East West Bancorp	14 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ameris Bancorp	9 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do analysts recommend EWBC or ABCB?

East West Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $107.85, indicating a potential upside of 18.94%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus price target of $71.43, indicating a potential upside of 15.88%. Given East West Bancorp's higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe East West Bancorp is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
East West Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.62
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Which has more volatility & risk, EWBC or ABCB?

East West Bancorp has a beta of 0.9, indicating that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.91, indicating that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, EWBC or ABCB?

East West Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Ameris Bancorp. East West Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ameris Bancorp, 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
East West Bancorp	$2.62B	4.77	$1.17B	$8.38	10.82
Ameris Bancorp	$1.12B	3.78	$358.68M	$5.40	11.41

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of EWBC or ABCB?

89.5% of East West Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of East West Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is EWBC or ABCB a better dividend stock?

East West Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. East West Bancorp pays out 28.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.8% 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. East West Bancorp has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years. East West Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is EWBC or ABCB more profitable?

East West Bancorp has a net margin of 25.73% compared to Ameris Bancorp's net margin of 21.46%. East West Bancorp's return on equity of 15.71% beat Ameris Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
East West Bancorp	25.73%	15.71%	1.58%
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%

Summary

East West Bancorp beats Ameris Bancorp on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.