Prosperity Bancshares (PB) Competitors

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

Is ABCB or PB more profitable?

Prosperity Bancshares has a net margin of 29.37% compared to Ameris Bancorp's net margin of 21.46%. Ameris Bancorp's return on equity of 9.57% beat Prosperity Bancshares' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%
Prosperity Bancshares	29.37%	6.99%	1.33%

Which has higher earnings and valuation, ABCB or PB?

Prosperity Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Ameris Bancorp. Prosperity Bancshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ameris Bancorp, 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	4.53	$358.68M	$5.68	13.10
Prosperity Bancshares	$1.18B	5.46	$479.39M	$5.50	12.33

Which has more volatility & risk, ABCB or PB?

Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.97, suggesting that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Prosperity Bancshares has a beta of 0.74, suggesting that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ABCB or PB a better dividend stock?

Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Prosperity Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $2.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Prosperity Bancshares pays out 42.2% 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. Prosperity Bancshares has increased its dividend for 27 consecutive years. Prosperity Bancshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media favor ABCB or PB?

In the previous week, Prosperity Bancshares had 16 more articles in the media than Ameris Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 24 mentions for Prosperity Bancshares and 8 mentions for Ameris Bancorp. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.35 beat Prosperity Bancshares' score of 0.76 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	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Prosperity Bancshares	9 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer ABCB or PB?

Ameris Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $72.14, suggesting a potential downside of 3.03%. Prosperity Bancshares has a consensus price target of $83.75, suggesting a potential upside of 23.54%. Given Prosperity Bancshares' higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Prosperity 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
Prosperity Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.65

Do institutionals and insiders believe in ABCB or PB?

91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.7% of Prosperity Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 4.2% of Prosperity Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Prosperity Bancshares beats Ameris Bancorp on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.