ABCB vs. EWBC, FHN, SSB, WBS, PNFP, WAL, WTFC, CBSH, CFR, and UMBF
Should you be buying Ameris Bancorp stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Ameris Bancorp include East West Bancorp (EWBC), First Horizon (FHN), SouthState (SSB), Webster Financial (WBS), Pinnacle Financial Partners (PNFP), Western Alliance Bancorporation (WAL), Wintrust Financial (WTFC), Commerce Bancshares (CBSH), Cullen/Frost Bankers (CFR), and UMB Financial (UMBF). These companies are all part of the "regional banks" industry.
Ameris Bancorp vs. Its Competitors
Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) and East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, earnings, valuation, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.
Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. East West Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. East West Bancorp pays out 28.6% 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. East West Bancorp has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years. East West Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
East West Bancorp has a net margin of 25.73% compared to Ameris Bancorp's net margin of 21.46%. East West Bancorp's return on equity of 15.23% beat Ameris Bancorp's return on equity.
Ameris Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $71.43, suggesting a potential upside of 5.45%. East West Bancorp has a consensus target price of $108.38, suggesting a potential downside of 0.45%. Given Ameris Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Ameris Bancorp is more favorable than East West Bancorp.
East West Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Ameris Bancorp. Ameris Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than East West Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
In the previous week, East West Bancorp had 15 more articles in the media than Ameris Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 19 mentions for East West Bancorp and 4 mentions for Ameris Bancorp. East West Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 0.82 beat Ameris Bancorp's score of 0.59 indicating that East West Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.
91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.5% of East West Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of East West Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, East West Bancorp has a beta of 0.93, meaning that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
East West Bancorp beats Ameris Bancorp on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.
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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding ABCB and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Media Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
Ameris Bancorp Competitors List
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This page (NASDAQ:ABCB) was last updated on 7/4/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
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