Popular (BPOP) Competitors

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) and Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, earnings, profitability, media sentiment and analyst recommendations.

Do analysts rate ABCB or BPOP?

Ameris Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $72.14, indicating a potential upside of 9.22%. Popular has a consensus price target of $128.88, indicating a potential upside of 13.42%. Given Popular's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Popular 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
Popular	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.88

Which has better valuation & earnings, ABCB or BPOP?

Popular has higher revenue and earnings than Ameris Bancorp. Popular 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	$1.14B	3.99	$358.68M	$5.68	11.63
Popular	$4.33B	1.80	$614.21M	$10.32	11.01

Is ABCB or BPOP more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to Popular's net margin of 16.49%. Popular's return on equity of 12.60% beat Ameris Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%
Popular	16.49%	12.60%	0.99%

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

91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.3% of Popular shares are held by institutional investors. 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of Popular shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is ABCB or BPOP a better dividend stock?

Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Popular pays an annual dividend of $2.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Popular pays out 27.1% 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. Popular has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years. Popular is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media prefer ABCB or BPOP?

In the previous week, Popular had 3 more articles in the media than Ameris Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for Popular and 11 mentions for Ameris Bancorp. Popular's average media sentiment score of 1.42 beat Ameris Bancorp's score of 1.27 indicating that Popular is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ameris Bancorp	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Popular	12 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility and risk, ABCB or BPOP?

Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Popular has a beta of 0.65, suggesting that its share price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Popular beats Ameris Bancorp on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.