Valley National Bancorp (VLY) Competitors

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

Do insiders & institutionals believe in ABCB or VLY?

91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.0% of Valley National Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Valley National Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts prefer ABCB or VLY?

Ameris Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $72.14, indicating a potential upside of 9.46%. Valley National Bancorp has a consensus price target of $10.95, indicating a potential upside of 19.28%. Given Valley National Bancorp's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Valley National Bancorp 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
Valley National Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Is ABCB or VLY a better dividend stock?

Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Valley National Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Valley National Bancorp pays out 56.4% 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.

Does the media refer more to ABCB or VLY?

In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 8 more articles in the media than Valley National Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 7 mentions for Valley National Bancorp. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 0.67 beat Valley National Bancorp's score of 0.42 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	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Valley National Bancorp	1 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is ABCB or VLY more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to Valley National Bancorp's net margin of 12.87%. Ameris Bancorp's return on equity of 9.57% beat Valley National Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%
Valley National Bancorp	12.87%	5.89%	0.66%

Which has more risk & volatility, ABCB or VLY?

Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Valley National Bancorp has a beta of 1.09, suggesting that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, ABCB or VLY?

Valley National Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Ameris Bancorp. Ameris Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Valley National 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
Ameris Bancorp	$1.14B	3.98	$358.68M	$5.68	11.60
Valley National Bancorp	$3.58B	1.44	$380.27M	$0.78	11.77

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats Valley National Bancorp on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.