Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (SBCF) Competitors

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) and Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, media sentiment, valuation, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Is SBCF or ABCB more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida's net margin of 16.63%. Ameris Bancorp's return on equity of 9.57% beat Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida	16.63%	6.65%	0.95%
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%

Does the media refer more to SBCF or ABCB?

In the previous week, Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida had 5 more articles in the media than Ameris Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida and 7 mentions for Ameris Bancorp. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.52 beat Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida's score of 1.11 indicating that Ameris Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida	6 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ameris Bancorp	6 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 rate SBCF or ABCB?

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida currently has a consensus target price of $29.40, suggesting a potential downside of 5.16%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus target price of $72.14, suggesting a potential downside of 3.62%. Given Ameris Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Ameris Bancorp is more favorable than Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Is SBCF or ABCB a better dividend stock?

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida pays out 44.2% 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. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more risk & volatility, SBCF or ABCB?

Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida has a beta of 0.98, indicating that its share price is 2% 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.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, SBCF or ABCB?

Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida. Ameris Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida, 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
Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida	$555.30M	4.90	$120.99M	$1.63	19.02
Ameris Bancorp	$1.13B	4.56	$358.68M	$5.68	13.18

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

81.8% of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida 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 endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.