Home BancShares (HOMB) Competitors

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

Is ABCB or HOMB more profitable?

Home BancShares has a net margin of 29.58% compared to Ameris Bancorp's net margin of 21.46%. Home BancShares' return on equity of 10.60% beat Ameris Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%
Home BancShares	29.58%	10.60%	1.87%

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

91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.3% of Home BancShares shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.3% of Home BancShares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media refer more to ABCB or HOMB?

In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 4 more articles in the media than Home BancShares. MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 10 mentions for Home BancShares. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.59 beat Home BancShares' score of 1.31 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	13 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Home BancShares	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, ABCB or HOMB?

Home BancShares has higher revenue and earnings than Ameris Bancorp. Ameris Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Home BancShares, 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	4.39	$358.68M	$5.68	12.69
Home BancShares	$1.47B	4.02	$402.24M	$2.19	13.69

Is ABCB or HOMB a better dividend stock?

Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Home BancShares pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Home BancShares pays out 36.5% 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. Home BancShares has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years. Home BancShares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts rate ABCB or HOMB?

Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $72.14, indicating a potential upside of 0.09%. Home BancShares has a consensus target price of $33.20, indicating a potential upside of 10.73%. Given Home BancShares' higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Home BancShares 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
Home BancShares	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60

Which has more volatility and risk, ABCB or HOMB?

Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Home BancShares has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats Home BancShares on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.