First Hawaiian (FHB) Competitors

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

Which has better valuation & earnings, ABCB or FHB?

Ameris Bancorp has higher earnings, but lower revenue than First Hawaiian. Ameris Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Hawaiian, 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	4.51	$358.68M	$5.68	13.03
First Hawaiian	$1.17B	2.72	$230.13M	$1.94	13.09

Which has more risk & volatility, ABCB or FHB?

Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Hawaiian has a beta of 0.89, indicating that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

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

91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 97.6% of First Hawaiian shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of First Hawaiian shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is ABCB or FHB 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
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%
First Hawaiian	21.45%	9.29%	1.04%

Do analysts recommend ABCB or FHB?

Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $72.14, indicating a potential downside of 2.54%. First Hawaiian has a consensus target price of $27.07, indicating a potential upside of 6.58%. Given First Hawaiian's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe First Hawaiian 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
First Hawaiian	4 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.43

Does the media prefer ABCB or FHB?

In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 4 more articles in the media than First Hawaiian. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 5 mentions for First Hawaiian. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.39 beat First Hawaiian's score of 1.19 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	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First Hawaiian	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is ABCB or FHB a better dividend stock?

Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. First Hawaiian pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Hawaiian pays out 53.6% 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 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.