First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC) Competitors

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

Is FFBC or ABCB more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to First Financial Bancorp.'s net margin of 19.41%. First Financial Bancorp.'s return on equity of 10.57% beat Ameris Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Financial Bancorp.	19.41%	10.57%	1.42%
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%

Does the media favor FFBC or ABCB?

In the previous week, First Financial Bancorp. had 3 more articles in the media than Ameris Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for First Financial Bancorp. and 6 mentions for Ameris Bancorp. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.58 beat First Financial Bancorp.'s score of 1.01 indicating that Ameris Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Financial Bancorp.	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ameris Bancorp	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has better earnings & valuation, FFBC or ABCB?

Ameris Bancorp has lower revenue, but higher earnings than First Financial Bancorp.. First Financial 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
First Financial Bancorp.	$1.62B	1.57	$228.83M	$2.50	10.59
Ameris Bancorp	$1.13B	4.47	$358.68M	$5.68	12.91

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of FFBC or ABCB?

77.2% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of First Financial Bancorp. shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held 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.

Which has more volatility & risk, FFBC or ABCB?

First Financial Bancorp. has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer FFBC or ABCB?

First Financial Bancorp. presently has a consensus target price of $29.40, suggesting a potential upside of 11.03%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus target price of $72.14, suggesting a potential downside of 1.65%. Given First Financial Bancorp.'s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First Financial Bancorp. is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Financial Bancorp.	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Is FFBC or ABCB a better dividend stock?

First Financial Bancorp. pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. First Financial Bancorp. pays out 38.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.1% 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. First Financial Bancorp. has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. First Financial Bancorp. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

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