Bank of Hawaii (BOH) Competitors

Bank of Hawaii (NYSE:BOH) and Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, media sentiment, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability and dividends.

Which has more volatility & risk, BOH or ABCB?

Bank of Hawaii has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.93, indicating that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is BOH or ABCB more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to Bank of Hawaii's net margin of 15.12%. Bank of Hawaii's return on equity of 12.16% beat Ameris Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bank of Hawaii	15.12%	12.16%	0.68%
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%

Is BOH or ABCB a better dividend stock?

Bank of Hawaii pays an annual dividend of $2.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Bank of Hawaii pays out 78.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bank of Hawaii has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Bank of Hawaii is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has better earnings & valuation, BOH or ABCB?

Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Bank of Hawaii. Ameris Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bank of Hawaii, 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
Bank of Hawaii	$645.90M	4.23	$149.99M	$3.56	19.33
Ameris Bancorp	$1.12B	4.13	$358.68M	$5.40	12.46

Do analysts rate BOH or ABCB?

Bank of Hawaii presently has a consensus price target of $77.20, suggesting a potential upside of 12.21%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus price target of $71.43, suggesting a potential upside of 6.14%. Given Bank of Hawaii's higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Bank of Hawaii is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bank of Hawaii	2 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.80
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Do insiders & institutionals believe in BOH or ABCB?

82.2% of Bank of Hawaii shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 2.1% of Bank of Hawaii shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media prefer BOH or ABCB?

In the previous week, Bank of Hawaii had 2 more articles in the media than Ameris Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Bank of Hawaii and 3 mentions for Ameris Bancorp. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.39 beat Bank of Hawaii's score of 1.01 indicating that Ameris Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Bank of Hawaii	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ameris Bancorp	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats Bank of Hawaii on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.