Hilltop (HTH) Competitors

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

Which has more risk & volatility, ABCB or HTH?

Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hilltop has a beta of 0.88, indicating that its share price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ABCB or HTH a better dividend stock?

Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Hilltop pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hilltop pays out 32.3% 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 increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years. Hilltop is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media prefer ABCB or HTH?

In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 2 more articles in the media than Hilltop. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 2 mentions for Hilltop. Hilltop's average media sentiment score of 1.61 beat Ameris Bancorp's score of 0.75 indicating that Hilltop is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

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

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

91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.1% of Hilltop shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.5% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 29.9% of Hilltop shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts recommend ABCB or HTH?

Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $72.14, indicating a potential downside of 3.48%. Hilltop has a consensus target price of $32.00, indicating a potential downside of 5.43%. Given Ameris Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Ameris Bancorp is more favorable than Hilltop.

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
Hilltop	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Which has better valuation & earnings, ABCB or HTH?

Ameris Bancorp has higher earnings, but lower revenue 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
Ameris Bancorp	$1.13B	4.55	$358.68M	$5.68	13.16
Hilltop	$1.61B	1.33	$113.21M	$2.23	15.17

Is ABCB or HTH more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to Hilltop's net margin of 8.90%. Ameris Bancorp's return on equity of 9.57% beat Hilltop's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%
Hilltop	8.90%	6.46%	0.91%

Summary

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