Popular (BPOP) Competitors

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

Do analysts prefer BPOP or ABCB?

Popular currently has a consensus target price of $123.29, suggesting a potential upside of 10.14%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus target price of $71.43, suggesting a potential upside of 7.49%. Given Popular's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Popular is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Popular	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Is BPOP or ABCB a better dividend stock?

Popular pays an annual dividend of $2.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Popular pays out 28.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.8% 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. Popular has increased its dividend for 6 consecutive years. Popular is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do institutionals & insiders believe in BPOP or ABCB?

87.3% of Popular shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 2.1% of Popular shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held 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 BPOP or ABCB more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to Popular's net margin of 15.82%. Popular's return on equity of 12.22% beat Ameris Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Popular	15.82%	12.22%	0.94%
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%

Does the media prefer BPOP or ABCB?

In the previous week, Popular had 21 more articles in the media than Ameris Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 31 mentions for Popular and 10 mentions for Ameris Bancorp. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.13 beat Popular's score of 0.64 indicating that Ameris Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Popular	15 Very Positive mention(s)	9 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ameris Bancorp	7 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, BPOP or ABCB?

Popular has higher revenue and earnings than Ameris Bancorp. Popular 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
Popular	$4.33B	1.77	$614.21M	$9.69	11.55
Ameris Bancorp	$1.12B	4.08	$358.68M	$5.40	12.31

Which has more volatility & risk, BPOP or ABCB?

Popular has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its stock price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.93, indicating that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats Popular on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.