Wintrust Financial (WTFC) Competitors

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

Do institutionals and insiders believe in WTFC or ABCB?

93.5% of Wintrust Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Wintrust Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by 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 recommend WTFC or ABCB?

Wintrust Financial currently has a consensus target price of $152.92, suggesting a potential upside of 18.50%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus target price of $72.14, suggesting a potential downside of 2.47%. Given Wintrust Financial's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Wintrust Financial is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wintrust Financial	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.93
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Does the media refer more to WTFC or ABCB?

In the previous week, Wintrust Financial had 14 more articles in the media than Ameris Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 36 mentions for Wintrust Financial and 22 mentions for Ameris Bancorp. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 0.98 beat Wintrust Financial's score of 0.79 indicating that Ameris Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Wintrust Financial	10 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	13 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ameris Bancorp	8 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher valuation and earnings, WTFC or ABCB?

Wintrust Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Ameris Bancorp. Wintrust 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
Wintrust Financial	$3.97B	2.18	$695.04M	$10.88	11.86
Ameris Bancorp	$1.13B	4.51	$358.68M	$5.68	13.02

Which has more volatility & risk, WTFC or ABCB?

Wintrust Financial has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is WTFC or ABCB more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to Wintrust Financial's net margin of 18.85%. Wintrust Financial's return on equity of 13.05% beat Ameris Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wintrust Financial	18.85%	13.05%	1.21%
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%

Is WTFC or ABCB a better dividend stock?

Wintrust Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Wintrust Financial pays out 18.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.1% 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. Wintrust Financial has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Wintrust Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Wintrust Financial beats Ameris Bancorp on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.