First Bancorp (FBNC) Competitors

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

Do analysts rate ABCB or FBNC?

Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $71.43, indicating a potential upside of 8.80%. First Bancorp has a consensus price target of $50.33, indicating a potential upside of 2.20%. Given Ameris Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Ameris Bancorp is more favorable than First 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
First Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Which has better earnings and valuation, ABCB or FBNC?

Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than First Bancorp. Ameris Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First 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	$1.12B	4.03	$358.68M	$5.40	12.16
First Bancorp	$372.76M	5.47	$76.21M	$2.34	21.05

Do insiders & institutionals believe in ABCB or FBNC?

91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 68.4% of First Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of First 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 ABCB or FBNC a better dividend stock?

Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. First Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Bancorp pays out 39.3% 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.

Is ABCB or FBNC more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to First Bancorp's net margin of 17.65%. Ameris Bancorp's return on equity of 9.57% beat First Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%
First Bancorp	17.65%	9.08%	1.10%

Which has more risk & volatility, ABCB or FBNC?

Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.93, indicating that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Bancorp has a beta of 0.87, indicating that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor ABCB or FBNC?

In the previous week, First Bancorp had 5 more articles in the media than Ameris Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for First Bancorp and 6 mentions for Ameris Bancorp. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.48 beat First Bancorp's score of 0.89 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	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First Bancorp	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats First Bancorp on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.