Wintrust Financial (WTFC) Competitors

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

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 18.9% 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 increased 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.

Which has more risk & volatility, WTFC or ABCB?

Wintrust Financial has a beta of 0.85, suggesting that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its share price is 4% 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 18.06%. Wintrust Financial's return on equity of 12.08% beat Ameris Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wintrust Financial	18.06%	12.08%	1.12%
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, WTFC or ABCB?

Wintrust Financial has higher revenue and earnings than Ameris Bancorp. Ameris Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Wintrust Financial, 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	2.30	$695.04M	$10.57	12.90
Ameris Bancorp	$1.13B	4.46	$358.68M	$5.68	12.88

Do insiders & institutionals believe in WTFC or ABCB?

93.5% of Wintrust Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Wintrust Financial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.5% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media prefer WTFC or ABCB?

In the previous week, Wintrust Financial had 5 more articles in the media than Ameris Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for Wintrust Financial and 8 mentions for Ameris Bancorp. Wintrust Financial's average media sentiment score of 1.59 beat Ameris Bancorp's score of 1.57 indicating that Wintrust Financial is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Wintrust Financial	11 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Ameris Bancorp	7 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do analysts recommend WTFC or ABCB?

Wintrust Financial currently has a consensus price target of $145.77, indicating a potential upside of 6.89%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus price target of $72.14, indicating a potential downside of 1.36%. Given Wintrust Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly 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)	10 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.92
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Summary

Wintrust Financial beats Ameris Bancorp on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.