Hanmi Financial (HAFC) Competitors

Hanmi Financial (NASDAQ:HAFC) and Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, media sentiment, dividends, institutional ownership and earnings.

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, HAFC or ABCB?

Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Hanmi Financial. Hanmi Financial 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
Hanmi Financial	$430.37M	1.79	$62.20M	$2.15	11.90
Ameris Bancorp	$1.13B	4.66	$358.68M	$5.68	13.46

Which has more risk and volatility, HAFC or ABCB?

Hanmi Financial has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its share price is 22% 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 HAFC or ABCB?

In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 11 more articles in the media than Hanmi Financial. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 0 mentions for Hanmi Financial. Hanmi Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.79 beat Ameris Bancorp's score of 1.32 indicating that Hanmi Financial is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Hanmi Financial	Very Positive
Ameris Bancorp	Positive

Do analysts recommend HAFC or ABCB?

Hanmi Financial currently has a consensus price target of $26.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1.64%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus price target of $72.14, suggesting a potential downside of 5.66%. Given Hanmi Financial's higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Hanmi Financial is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hanmi Financial	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 HAFC or ABCB more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to Hanmi Financial's net margin of 15.11%. Ameris Bancorp's return on equity of 9.57% beat Hanmi Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hanmi Financial	15.11%	8.77%	0.84%
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%

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

88.7% of Hanmi Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.9% of Hanmi Financial shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is HAFC or ABCB a better dividend stock?

Hanmi Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.08 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 1.0%. Hanmi Financial pays out 50.2% 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. Hanmi Financial has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Hanmi Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats Hanmi Financial on 15 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.