BankUnited (BKU) Competitors

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

Which has more risk & volatility, ABCB or BKU?

Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.97, suggesting that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BankUnited has a beta of 1.29, suggesting that its share price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500.

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

91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.7% of BankUnited shares are held by institutional investors. 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of BankUnited shares are held 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.

Is ABCB or BKU a better dividend stock?

Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. BankUnited pays an annual dividend of $1.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. BankUnited pays out 36.4% 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. BankUnited has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. BankUnited is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has better earnings & valuation, ABCB or BKU?

Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than BankUnited. BankUnited 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	4.53	$358.68M	$5.68	13.10
BankUnited	$1.05B	2.81	$232.47M	$3.41	11.53

Does the media prefer ABCB or BKU?

In the previous week, BankUnited had 12 more articles in the media than Ameris Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 22 mentions for BankUnited and 10 mentions for Ameris Bancorp. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.39 beat BankUnited's score of 0.81 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	8 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
BankUnited	11 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer ABCB or BKU?

Ameris Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $72.14, suggesting a potential downside of 3.03%. BankUnited has a consensus price target of $41.75, suggesting a potential upside of 6.16%. Given BankUnited's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe BankUnited 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
BankUnited	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25

Is ABCB or BKU more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to BankUnited's net margin of 13.19%. Ameris Bancorp's return on equity of 9.57% beat BankUnited's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%
BankUnited	13.19%	9.00%	0.73%

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats BankUnited on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.