SmartFinancial (SMBK) Competitors

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

Is SMBK or ABCB more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to SmartFinancial's net margin of 12.67%. Ameris Bancorp's return on equity of 9.57% beat SmartFinancial's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SmartFinancial	12.67%	7.33%	0.71%
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%

Which has more risk and volatility, SMBK or ABCB?

SmartFinancial has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is SMBK or ABCB a better dividend stock?

SmartFinancial pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. SmartFinancial pays out 14.2% 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. SmartFinancial has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, SMBK or ABCB?

Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than SmartFinancial. Ameris Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SmartFinancial, 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
SmartFinancial	$178.24M	3.46	$36.14M	$2.26	16.03
Ameris Bancorp	$1.12B	4.13	$358.68M	$5.40	12.47

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in SMBK or ABCB?

58.8% of SmartFinancial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.6% of SmartFinancial 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 large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts rate SMBK or ABCB?

SmartFinancial presently has a consensus price target of $33.70, indicating a potential downside of 6.95%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus price target of $71.43, indicating a potential upside of 6.07%. Given Ameris Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ameris Bancorp is more favorable than SmartFinancial.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SmartFinancial	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Does the media favor SMBK or ABCB?

In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 10 more articles in the media than SmartFinancial. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 2 mentions for SmartFinancial. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.13 beat SmartFinancial's score of 0.00 indicating that Ameris Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
SmartFinancial	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Ameris Bancorp	9 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

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