Preferred Bank (PFBC) Competitors

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

Which has higher earnings & valuation, ABCB or PFBC?

Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Preferred Bank. Preferred Bank 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
Ameris Bancorp	$1.08B	4.04	$269.11M	$4.80	13.13
Preferred Bank	$281.54M	4.43	$150.04M	$9.98	8.66

Which has more volatility & risk, ABCB or PFBC?

Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 1.03, suggesting that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Preferred Bank has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals believe in ABCB or PFBC?

91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.8% of Preferred Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.5% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts rate ABCB or PFBC?

Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $69.17, indicating a potential upside of 9.79%. Preferred Bank has a consensus target price of $99.50, indicating a potential upside of 15.08%. Given Preferred Bank's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Preferred Bank 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)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83
Preferred Bank	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Does the media refer more to ABCB or PFBC?

In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 7 more articles in the media than Preferred Bank. MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 7 mentions for Preferred Bank. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.18 beat Preferred Bank's score of -0.25 indicating that Ameris Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
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
Preferred Bank	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is ABCB or PFBC a better dividend stock?

Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Preferred Bank pays an annual dividend of $2.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Ameris Bancorp pays out 16.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Preferred Bank pays out 28.1% 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.

Is ABCB or PFBC more profitable?

Preferred Bank has a net margin of 26.20% compared to Ameris Bancorp's net margin of 20.08%. Preferred Bank's return on equity of 19.01% beat Ameris Bancorp's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ameris Bancorp	20.08%	9.18%	1.25%
Preferred Bank	26.20%	19.01%	2.01%

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer ABCB or PFBC?

Ameris Bancorp received 83 more outperform votes than Preferred Bank when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 66.53% of users gave Preferred Bank an outperform vote while only 65.55% of users gave Ameris Bancorp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Ameris Bancorp	Outperform Votes 411 65.55%	Underperform Votes 216 34.45%
Preferred Bank	Outperform Votes 328 66.53%	Underperform Votes 165 33.47%

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats Preferred Bank on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.