Hilltop (HTH) Competitors

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) 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 valuation, earnings, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, institutional ownership and profitability.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in HTH or ABCB?

57.1% of Hilltop shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 29.9% of Hilltop shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has better earnings and valuation, HTH or ABCB?

Ameris Bancorp has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Hilltop. Ameris Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hilltop, 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
Hilltop	$1.61B	1.21	$113.21M	$1.97	15.42
Ameris Bancorp	$1.12B	4.05	$358.68M	$5.40	12.23

Does the media refer more to HTH or ABCB?

In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 8 more articles in the media than Hilltop. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 2 mentions for Hilltop. Ameris Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.03 beat Hilltop's score of 0.42 indicating that Ameris Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Hilltop	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	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 more volatility and risk, HTH or ABCB?

Hilltop has a beta of 0.87, suggesting that its share price is 13% 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.

Is HTH or ABCB a better dividend stock?

Hilltop pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Hilltop pays out 36.5% 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. Hilltop has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years. Hilltop is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is HTH or ABCB more profitable?

Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to Hilltop's net margin of 7.87%. Ameris Bancorp's return on equity of 9.57% beat Hilltop's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hilltop	7.87%	5.79%	0.80%
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%

Do analysts prefer HTH or ABCB?

Hilltop currently has a consensus target price of $33.00, suggesting a potential upside of 8.66%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus target price of $71.43, suggesting a potential upside of 8.13%. Given Hilltop's higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Hilltop is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hilltop	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Ameris Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats Hilltop on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.