OceanFirst Financial (OCFC) Competitors

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

Does the media prefer OCFC or ABCB?

In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 5 more articles in the media than OceanFirst Financial. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 2 mentions for OceanFirst Financial. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.46 beat OceanFirst Financial's score of 0.94 indicating that Ameris Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
OceanFirst Financial	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ameris Bancorp	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility and risk, OCFC or ABCB?

OceanFirst Financial has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.93, indicating that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is OCFC or ABCB a better dividend stock?

OceanFirst Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. OceanFirst Financial pays out 52.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.8% 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.

Do analysts recommend OCFC or ABCB?

OceanFirst Financial currently has a consensus target price of $20.67, indicating a potential upside of 10.46%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus target price of $71.43, indicating a potential upside of 5.31%. Given OceanFirst Financial's higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe OceanFirst Financial is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
OceanFirst Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 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

Is OCFC or ABCB more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to OceanFirst Financial's net margin of 13.59%. Ameris Bancorp's return on equity of 9.57% beat OceanFirst Financial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
OceanFirst Financial	13.59%	5.38%	0.68%
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%

Which has better valuation & earnings, OCFC or ABCB?

Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than OceanFirst Financial. OceanFirst 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
OceanFirst Financial	$379.09M	2.88	$100.07M	$1.53	12.23
Ameris Bancorp	$1.12B	4.16	$358.68M	$5.40	12.56

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in OCFC or ABCB?

71.0% of OceanFirst Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 5.1% of OceanFirst Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.4% 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 OceanFirst Financial on 15 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.