WSFS Financial (WSFS) Competitors

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) and WSFS Financial (NASDAQ:WSFS) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and dividends.

Is ABCB or WSFS more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to WSFS Financial's net margin of 19.29%. WSFS Financial's return on equity of 10.15% beat Ameris Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%
WSFS Financial	19.29%	10.15%	1.29%

Does the media refer more to ABCB or WSFS?

In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 2 more articles in the media than WSFS Financial. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 2 mentions for WSFS Financial. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 0.90 beat WSFS Financial's score of 0.63 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	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
WSFS Financial	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, ABCB or WSFS?

Ameris Bancorp has higher earnings, but lower revenue than WSFS Financial. WSFS Financial is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ameris 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	$1.13B	4.50	$358.68M	$5.68	13.01
WSFS Financial	$1.40B	2.15	$263.67M	$4.56	11.83

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

91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.5% of WSFS Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of WSFS Financial 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.

Do analysts prefer ABCB or WSFS?

Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $72.14, suggesting a potential downside of 2.37%. WSFS Financial has a consensus target price of $66.25, suggesting a potential upside of 22.82%. Given WSFS Financial's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe WSFS Financial 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
WSFS Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Which has more risk and volatility, ABCB or WSFS?

Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, WSFS Financial has a beta of 0.86, suggesting that its share price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ABCB or WSFS a better dividend stock?

Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. WSFS Financial pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. WSFS Financial pays out 14.9% 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. WSFS Financial has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. WSFS Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats WSFS Financial on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.