Independent Bank (INDB) Competitors

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

Is INDB or ABCB a better dividend stock?

Independent Bank pays an annual dividend of $2.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Independent Bank pays out 53.3% 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. Independent Bank has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years. Independent Bank is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, INDB or ABCB?

Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Independent Bank. Ameris Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Independent Bank, 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
Independent Bank	$980.77M	3.67	$192.08M	$4.43	16.26
Ameris Bancorp	$1.13B	4.53	$358.68M	$5.68	13.10

Is INDB or ABCB more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to Independent Bank's net margin of 18.93%. Ameris Bancorp's return on equity of 9.57% beat Independent Bank's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Independent Bank	18.93%	6.39%	0.98%
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%

Which has more risk and volatility, INDB or ABCB?

Independent Bank has a beta of 0.91, indicating that its stock price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor INDB or ABCB?

In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 2 more articles in the media than Independent Bank. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 8 mentions for Independent Bank. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.59 beat Independent Bank's score of 1.14 indicating that Ameris Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Independent Bank	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ameris Bancorp	9 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do analysts prefer INDB or ABCB?

Independent Bank presently has a consensus target price of $71.00, indicating a potential downside of 1.46%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus target price of $72.14, indicating a potential downside of 3.05%. Given Independent Bank's higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Independent Bank is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Independent Bank	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

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

83.4% of Independent Bank shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Independent Bank shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.5% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats Independent Bank on 15 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.