Commerce Bancshares (CBSH) Competitors

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

Which has better valuation & earnings, ABCB or CBSH?

Commerce Bancshares has higher revenue and earnings than Ameris Bancorp. Ameris Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Commerce 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	$1.14B	3.98	$358.68M	$5.68	11.60
Commerce Bancshares	$2.09B	3.83	$526.33M	$4.20	14.27

Is ABCB or CBSH a better dividend stock?

Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Commerce Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Commerce Bancshares pays out 26.2% 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. Commerce Bancshares has raised its dividend for 58 consecutive years. Commerce Bancshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts recommend ABCB or CBSH?

Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $72.14, indicating a potential upside of 9.46%. Commerce Bancshares has a consensus price target of $68.20, indicating a potential upside of 13.82%. Given Commerce Bancshares' higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Commerce 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
Commerce Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Does the media refer more to ABCB or CBSH?

In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 9 more articles in the media than Commerce Bancshares. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 6 mentions for Commerce Bancshares. Commerce Bancshares' average media sentiment score of 1.35 beat Ameris Bancorp's score of 0.67 indicating that Commerce Bancshares is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ameris Bancorp	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Commerce Bancshares	4 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is ABCB or CBSH more profitable?

Commerce Bancshares has a net margin of 26.37% compared to Ameris Bancorp's net margin of 21.46%. Commerce Bancshares' return on equity of 16.01% beat Ameris Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%
Commerce Bancshares	26.37%	16.01%	1.74%

Do institutionals and insiders believe in ABCB or CBSH?

91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.3% of Commerce Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.1% of Commerce Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk and volatility, ABCB or CBSH?

Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Commerce Bancshares has a beta of 0.61, meaning that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

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