Hope Bancorp (HOPE) Competitors

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

Which has more risk and volatility, ABCB or HOPE?

Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hope Bancorp has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ABCB or HOPE a better dividend stock?

Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Hope Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hope Bancorp pays out 160.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Do analysts rate ABCB or HOPE?

Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $72.14, indicating a potential upside of 9.46%. Hope Bancorp has a consensus price target of $13.25, indicating a potential upside of 36.46%. Given Hope Bancorp's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Hope Bancorp 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
Hope Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is ABCB or HOPE more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to Hope Bancorp's net margin of 4.27%. Ameris Bancorp's return on equity of 9.57% beat Hope Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%
Hope Bancorp	4.27%	4.45%	0.55%

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of ABCB or HOPE?

91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.0% of Hope Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.2% of Hope Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media refer more to ABCB or HOPE?

In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 12 more articles in the media than Hope Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 4 mentions for Hope Bancorp. Hope Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.07 beat Ameris Bancorp's score of 0.67 indicating that Hope Bancorp 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
Hope Bancorp	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, ABCB or HOPE?

Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Hope Bancorp. Ameris Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hope 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
Hope Bancorp	$1.00B	1.24	$99.63M	$0.35	27.74

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats Hope Bancorp on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.