Veritex (VBTX) Competitors

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

Is ABCB or VBTX more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to Veritex's net margin of 14.12%. Ameris Bancorp's return on equity of 9.57% beat Veritex's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%
Veritex	14.12%	7.51%	0.94%

Which has higher earnings and valuation, ABCB or VBTX?

Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Veritex. Ameris Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Veritex, 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	4.15	$358.68M	$5.40	12.54
Veritex	$797.62M	1.88	$107.24M	$2.04	13.54

Does the media refer more to ABCB or VBTX?

In the previous week, Veritex had 3 more articles in the media than Ameris Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Veritex and 4 mentions for Ameris Bancorp. Veritex's average media sentiment score of 0.97 beat Ameris Bancorp's score of 0.59 indicating that Veritex is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ameris Bancorp	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Veritex	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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

91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.3% of Veritex shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.3% of Veritex shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more risk & volatility, ABCB or VBTX?

Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Veritex has a beta of 1.03, suggesting that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer ABCB or VBTX?

Ameris Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $71.43, indicating a potential upside of 5.45%. Veritex has a consensus target price of $30.25, indicating a potential upside of 9.52%. Given Veritex's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Veritex 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
Veritex	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Is ABCB or VBTX a better dividend stock?

Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Veritex pays an annual dividend of $0.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Veritex pays out 43.1% 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. Veritex has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Veritex is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats Veritex on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.