Preferred Bank (PFBC) Competitors

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

Is PFBC or ABCB a better dividend stock?

Preferred Bank pays an annual dividend of $3.00 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 1.2%. Preferred Bank pays out 31.8% 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. Preferred Bank has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Preferred Bank is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more risk & volatility, PFBC or ABCB?

Preferred Bank has a beta of 0.69, meaning that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better earnings & valuation, PFBC or ABCB?

Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Preferred Bank. Preferred 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
Preferred Bank	$522.66M	2.50	$130.66M	$9.42	9.60
Ameris Bancorp	$1.12B	4.03	$358.68M	$5.40	12.18

Do institutionals & insiders believe in PFBC or ABCB?

72.8% of Preferred Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is PFBC or ABCB more profitable?

Preferred Bank has a net margin of 24.87% compared to Ameris Bancorp's net margin of 21.46%. Preferred Bank's return on equity of 16.88% beat Ameris Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Preferred Bank	24.87%	16.88%	1.83%
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%

Does the media prefer PFBC or ABCB?

In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 4 more articles in the media than Preferred Bank. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 4 mentions for Preferred Bank. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.15 beat Preferred Bank's score of 0.53 indicating that Ameris Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Preferred Bank	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ameris Bancorp	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate PFBC or ABCB?

Preferred Bank presently has a consensus target price of $92.33, indicating a potential upside of 2.10%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus target price of $71.43, indicating a potential upside of 8.64%. Given Ameris Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Ameris Bancorp is more favorable than Preferred Bank.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Preferred Bank	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats Preferred Bank on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.