Simmons First National (SFNC) Competitors

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) and Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, dividends, media sentiment and institutional ownership.

Do analysts rate ABCB or SFNC?

Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $71.43, suggesting a potential upside of 6.14%. Simmons First National has a consensus price target of $22.33, suggesting a potential upside of 12.00%. Given Simmons First National's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Simmons First National 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
Simmons First National	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Is ABCB or SFNC a better dividend stock?

Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Simmons First National pays an annual dividend of $0.85 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Simmons First National pays out 73.3% 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. Simmons First National has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Simmons First National is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has better earnings and valuation, ABCB or SFNC?

Ameris Bancorp has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Simmons First National. Ameris Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Simmons First National, 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	$1.12B	4.13	$358.68M	$5.40	12.46
Simmons First National	$1.46B	1.72	$152.69M	$1.16	17.19

Do institutionals and insiders believe in ABCB or SFNC?

91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 27.6% of Simmons First National shares are held by institutional investors. 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Simmons First National 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.

Does the media refer more to ABCB or SFNC?

In the previous week, Simmons First National had 2 more articles in the media than Ameris Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Simmons First National and 3 mentions for Ameris Bancorp. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.39 beat Simmons First National's score of 0.75 indicating that Ameris Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ameris Bancorp	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Simmons First National	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is ABCB or SFNC more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to Simmons First National's net margin of 10.10%. Ameris Bancorp's return on equity of 9.57% beat Simmons First National's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%
Simmons First National	10.10%	4.86%	0.63%

Which has more risk & volatility, ABCB or SFNC?

Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Simmons First National has a beta of 0.92, meaning that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats Simmons First National on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.