First Hawaiian (FHB) Competitors

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

Which has higher valuation & earnings, FHB or ABCB?

Ameris Bancorp has lower revenue, but higher earnings than First Hawaiian. First Hawaiian 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 Hawaiian	$1.17B	2.63	$230.13M	$1.94	12.69
Ameris Bancorp	$1.13B	4.50	$358.68M	$5.68	13.01

Which has more volatility & risk, FHB or ABCB?

First Hawaiian has a beta of 0.84, suggesting that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer FHB or ABCB?

First Hawaiian currently has a consensus price target of $27.06, indicating a potential upside of 9.97%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus price target of $72.14, indicating a potential downside of 2.37%. Given First Hawaiian's higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe First Hawaiian is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Hawaiian	4 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.70
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Is FHB or ABCB more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to First Hawaiian's net margin of 21.45%. Ameris Bancorp's return on equity of 9.57% beat First Hawaiian's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Hawaiian	21.45%	9.29%	1.04%
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%

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

97.6% of First Hawaiian shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of First Hawaiian 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.

Does the media refer more to FHB or ABCB?

In the previous week, First Hawaiian had 6 more articles in the media than Ameris Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for First Hawaiian and 3 mentions for Ameris Bancorp. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 0.90 beat First Hawaiian's score of -0.30 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 Hawaiian	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Ameris Bancorp	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is FHB or ABCB a better dividend stock?

First Hawaiian pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. First Hawaiian pays out 53.6% 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.

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats First Hawaiian on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.