National Bank (NBHC) Competitors

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

Which has more risk and volatility, NBHC or ABCB?

National Bank has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

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

92.7% of National Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.9% of National Bank shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is NBHC or ABCB a better dividend stock?

National Bank pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. National Bank pays out 38.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.1% 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. National Bank has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years. National Bank is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, NBHC or ABCB?

Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than National Bank. Ameris Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than National Bank, 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
National Bank	$599.50M	2.32	$118.82M	$3.10	11.77
Ameris Bancorp	$1.14B	4.01	$358.68M	$5.68	11.70

Does the media prefer NBHC or ABCB?

In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 9 more articles in the media than National Bank. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 7 mentions for National Bank. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 0.80 beat National Bank's score of 0.67 indicating that Ameris Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
National Bank	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ameris Bancorp	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend NBHC or ABCB?

National Bank presently has a consensus target price of $47.20, suggesting a potential upside of 29.33%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus target price of $72.14, suggesting a potential upside of 8.51%. Given National Bank's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe National Bank is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
National Bank	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Is NBHC or ABCB more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to National Bank's net margin of 20.02%. Ameris Bancorp's return on equity of 9.57% beat National Bank's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
National Bank	20.02%	9.44%	1.25%
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats National Bank on 15 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.