ServisFirst Bancshares (SFBS) Competitors

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

Do institutionals and insiders believe in ABCB or SFBS?

91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.3% of ServisFirst Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.5% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.7% of ServisFirst Bancshares shares are owned by 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.

Is ABCB or SFBS more profitable?

ServisFirst Bancshares has a net margin of 24.62% compared to Ameris Bancorp's net margin of 21.46%. ServisFirst Bancshares' return on equity of 15.47% beat Ameris Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%
ServisFirst Bancshares	24.62%	15.47%	1.46%

Does the media refer more to ABCB or SFBS?

In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 1 more articles in the media than ServisFirst Bancshares. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 5 mentions for ServisFirst Bancshares. ServisFirst Bancshares' average media sentiment score of 1.07 beat Ameris Bancorp's score of 0.62 indicating that ServisFirst Bancshares is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ameris Bancorp	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
ServisFirst Bancshares	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is ABCB or SFBS a better dividend stock?

Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. ServisFirst Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.34 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. ServisFirst Bancshares pays out 29.3% 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. ServisFirst Bancshares has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years. ServisFirst Bancshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more volatility & risk, ABCB or SFBS?

Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.97, suggesting that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ServisFirst Bancshares has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer ABCB or SFBS?

Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $72.14, indicating a potential downside of 3.75%. ServisFirst Bancshares has a consensus target price of $90.50, indicating a potential upside of 8.68%. Given ServisFirst Bancshares' higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe ServisFirst 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
ServisFirst Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Which has better earnings & valuation, ABCB or SFBS?

Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than ServisFirst Bancshares. Ameris Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than ServisFirst 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	4.57	$358.68M	$5.68	13.20
ServisFirst Bancshares	$981.18M	4.64	$227.24M	$4.57	18.22

Summary

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