Southern First Bancshares (SFST) Competitors

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) and Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, dividends, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Do insiders & institutionals believe in SFST or ABCB?

75.0% of Southern First Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.1% of Southern First Bancshares shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts recommend SFST or ABCB?

Southern First Bancshares currently has a consensus target price of $43.00, indicating a potential upside of 8.56%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus target price of $71.43, indicating a potential upside of 6.07%. Given Southern First Bancshares' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Southern First Bancshares is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southern First Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	4.00
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Which has better valuation & earnings, SFST or ABCB?

Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Southern First Bancshares. Ameris Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Southern First 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
Southern First Bancshares	$213.35M	1.52	$15.53M	$2.26	17.53
Ameris Bancorp	$1.12B	4.13	$358.68M	$5.40	12.47

Does the media favor SFST or ABCB?

In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 9 more articles in the media than Southern First Bancshares. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 2 mentions for Southern First Bancshares. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.28 beat Southern First Bancshares' score of 0.00 indicating that Ameris Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Southern First Bancshares	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Ameris Bancorp	8 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is SFST or ABCB more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to Southern First Bancshares' net margin of 8.50%. Ameris Bancorp's return on equity of 9.57% beat Southern First Bancshares' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southern First Bancshares	8.50%	5.57%	0.44%
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%

Which has more risk & volatility, SFST or ABCB?

Southern First Bancshares has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats Southern First Bancshares on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.