First Bank (FRBA) Competitors

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

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, ABCB or FRBA?

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
Ameris Bancorp	$1.14B	3.98	$358.68M	$5.68	11.60
First Bank	$229.43M	N/A	$42.24M	$1.51	9.70

Do analysts recommend ABCB or FRBA?

Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $72.14, suggesting a potential upside of 9.46%. First Bank has a consensus target price of $17.83, suggesting a potential upside of 21.81%. Given First Bank's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe First Bank 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 Bank	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Is ABCB or FRBA 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
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%
First Bank	16.13%	9.51%	1.02%

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

91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.9% of First Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 13.1% of First Bank shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media prefer ABCB or FRBA?

In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 13 more articles in the media than First Bank. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 3 mentions for First Bank. First Bank's average media sentiment score of 1.09 beat Ameris Bancorp's score of 0.67 indicating that First Bank is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

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

Which has more risk & volatility, ABCB or FRBA?

Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Bank has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ABCB or FRBA a better dividend stock?

Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. First Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Bank pays out 15.9% 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 Bank on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.