Business First Bancshares (BFST) Competitors

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) and Business First Bancshares (NASDAQ:BFST) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, profitability, risk, media sentiment and dividends.

Which has more volatility and risk, ABCB or BFST?

Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.97, suggesting that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Business First Bancshares has a beta of 0.85, suggesting that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in ABCB or BFST?

91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.3% of Business First Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.5% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.7% of Business First Bancshares 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.

Is ABCB or BFST a better dividend stock?

Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Business First Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Business First Bancshares pays out 22.3% 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. Business First Bancshares has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Business First Bancshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, ABCB or BFST?

Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Business First Bancshares. Business First Bancshares 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
Ameris Bancorp	$1.13B	4.50	$358.68M	$5.68	13.00
Business First Bancshares	$300.12M	2.51	$65.11M	$2.51	10.14

Is ABCB or BFST more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to Business First Bancshares' net margin of 15.47%. Business First Bancshares' return on equity of 11.21% beat Ameris Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%
Business First Bancshares	15.47%	11.21%	1.06%

Do analysts recommend ABCB or BFST?

Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $72.14, indicating a potential downside of 2.32%. Business First Bancshares has a consensus target price of $30.75, indicating a potential upside of 20.83%. Given Business First Bancshares' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Business First Bancshares is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86
Business First Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Does the media refer more to ABCB or BFST?

In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 8 more articles in the media than Business First Bancshares. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 2 mentions for Business First Bancshares. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.59 beat Business First Bancshares' score of 0.81 indicating that Ameris Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ameris Bancorp	9 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Business First Bancshares	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats Business First Bancshares on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.