First Bank (FRBA) Competitors

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

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

64.9% of First Bank shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk and volatility, FRBA or ABCB?

First Bank has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor FRBA or ABCB?

In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 7 more articles in the media than First Bank. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 3 mentions for First Bank. First Bank's average media sentiment score of 1.95 beat Ameris Bancorp's score of 1.34 indicating that First Bank is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
First Bank	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
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

Do analysts prefer FRBA or ABCB?

First Bank currently has a consensus target price of $17.83, suggesting a potential upside of 8.74%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus target price of $72.14, suggesting a potential downside of 2.17%. Given First Bank's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe First Bank is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Bank	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Is FRBA or ABCB a better dividend stock?

First Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. First Bank pays out 15.9% 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.

Is FRBA or ABCB more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to First Bank's net margin of 16.13%. Ameris Bancorp's return on equity of 9.57% beat First Bank's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Bank	16.13%	9.44%	1.01%
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, FRBA or ABCB?

Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than First Bank. First Bank 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 Bank	$229.43M	N/A	$42.24M	$1.51	10.86
Ameris Bancorp	$1.13B	4.49	$358.68M	$5.68	12.98

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats First Bank on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.