German American Bancorp (GABC) Competitors

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

Does the media prefer GABC or ABCB?

In the previous week, German American Bancorp had 5 more articles in the media than Ameris Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for German American Bancorp and 4 mentions for Ameris Bancorp. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.34 beat German American Bancorp's score of 0.87 indicating that Ameris Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
German American Bancorp	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Ameris Bancorp	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility & risk, GABC or ABCB?

German American Bancorp has a beta of 0.64, indicating that its stock price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 1.06, indicating that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in GABC or ABCB?

Ameris Bancorp received 158 more outperform votes than German American Bancorp when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 65.50% of users gave Ameris Bancorp an outperform vote while only 53.25% of users gave German American Bancorp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
German American Bancorp	Outperform Votes 254 53.25%	Underperform Votes 223 46.75%
Ameris Bancorp	Outperform Votes 412 65.50%	Underperform Votes 217 34.50%

Which has higher valuation & earnings, GABC or ABCB?

Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than German American Bancorp. Ameris Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than German American 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
German American Bancorp	$353.70M	3.30	$83.81M	$2.82	13.93
Ameris Bancorp	$1.67B	2.62	$358.68M	$5.21	12.17

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in GABC or ABCB?

46.9% of German American Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.2% of German American Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.5% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts recommend GABC or ABCB?

German American Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $46.40, suggesting a potential upside of 18.16%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus target price of $70.50, suggesting a potential upside of 11.22%. Given German American Bancorp's higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe German American Bancorp is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
German American Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83

Is GABC or ABCB more profitable?

German American Bancorp has a net margin of 23.69% compared to Ameris Bancorp's net margin of 21.46%. German American Bancorp's return on equity of 12.04% beat Ameris Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
German American Bancorp	23.69%	12.04%	1.35%
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%

Is GABC or ABCB a better dividend stock?

German American Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. German American Bancorp pays out 41.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ameris Bancorp pays out 15.4% 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. German American Bancorp has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. German American Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats German American Bancorp on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.