Ameris Bancorp (ABCB) Competitors

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) and Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, community ranking, risk, analyst recommendations and media sentiment.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in HWC or ABCB?

Ameris Bancorp received 355 more outperform votes than Hancock Whitney when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 65.50% of users gave Ameris Bancorp an outperform vote while only 46.61% of users gave Hancock Whitney an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Hancock Whitney	Outperform Votes 55 46.61%	Underperform Votes 63 53.39%
Ameris Bancorp	Outperform Votes 410 65.50%	Underperform Votes 216 34.50%

Is HWC or ABCB a better dividend stock?

Hancock Whitney pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Hancock Whitney pays out 35.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ameris Bancorp pays out 12.5% 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.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, HWC or ABCB?

Hancock Whitney has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Ameris Bancorp. Hancock Whitney 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
Hancock Whitney	$1.37B	3.68	$392.60M	$4.46	13.11
Ameris Bancorp	$1.52B	3.16	$269.11M	$4.80	14.51

Is HWC or ABCB more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 20.08% compared to Hancock Whitney's net margin of 19.30%. Hancock Whitney's return on equity of 11.47% beat Ameris Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hancock Whitney	19.30%	11.47%	1.28%
Ameris Bancorp	20.08%	9.18%	1.25%

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of HWC or ABCB?

81.2% of Hancock Whitney shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Hancock Whitney shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.5% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, HWC or ABCB?

Hancock Whitney has a beta of 1.25, suggesting that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor HWC or ABCB?

In the previous week, Hancock Whitney had 5 more articles in the media than Ameris Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Hancock Whitney and 5 mentions for Ameris Bancorp. Hancock Whitney's average media sentiment score of 1.30 beat Ameris Bancorp's score of 1.25 indicating that Hancock Whitney is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Hancock Whitney	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ameris Bancorp	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate HWC or ABCB?

Hancock Whitney currently has a consensus target price of $56.89, indicating a potential downside of 2.67%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus target price of $66.67, indicating a potential downside of 4.26%. Given Hancock Whitney's higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Hancock Whitney is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hancock Whitney	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83

Summary

Hancock Whitney and Ameris Bancorp tied by winning 10 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.