Hilltop (HTH) Competitors

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

Do insiders & institutionals believe in HTH or ABCB?

57.1% of Hilltop shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 29.9% of Hilltop 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, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media prefer HTH or ABCB?

In the previous week, Hilltop had 6 more articles in the media than Ameris Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Hilltop and 6 mentions for Ameris Bancorp. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.48 beat Hilltop's score of 0.74 indicating that Ameris Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Hilltop	2 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ameris Bancorp	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better earnings and valuation, HTH or ABCB?

Ameris Bancorp has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Hilltop. Ameris Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hilltop, 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
Hilltop	$1.61B	1.24	$113.21M	$1.97	15.76
Ameris Bancorp	$1.12B	4.05	$358.68M	$5.40	12.24

Is HTH or ABCB a better dividend stock?

Hilltop pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Hilltop pays out 36.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.8% 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. Hilltop has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years. Hilltop is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts recommend HTH or ABCB?

Hilltop currently has a consensus target price of $33.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.31%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus target price of $71.43, suggesting a potential upside of 8.11%. Given Ameris Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Ameris Bancorp is more favorable than Hilltop.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hilltop	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Is HTH or ABCB more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to Hilltop's net margin of 7.87%. Ameris Bancorp's return on equity of 9.57% beat Hilltop's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hilltop	7.87%	5.79%	0.80%
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%

Which has more risk and volatility, HTH or ABCB?

Hilltop has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

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