Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB – Get Free Report) and Eagle Financial Services (OTCMKTS:EFSI – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and dividends.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings for Ameris Bancorp and Eagle Financial Services, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
Ameris Bancorp | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2.80 |
Eagle Financial Services | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $66.20, indicating a potential upside of 8.47%. Given Ameris Bancorp’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Ameris Bancorp is more favorable than Eagle Financial Services.
Dividends
Institutional & Insider Ownership
91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.3% of Eagle Financial Services shares are held by institutional investors. 5.5% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 12.3% of Eagle Financial Services shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares Ameris Bancorp and Eagle Financial Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
Ameris Bancorp | 19.28% | 8.97% | 1.20% |
Eagle Financial Services | 10.05% | 9.75% | 0.58% |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Ameris Bancorp and Eagle Financial Services”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
Ameris Bancorp | $1.52 billion | 2.77 | $269.11 million | $4.11 | 14.85 |
Eagle Financial Services | $97.87 million | 1.21 | $9.36 million | $2.65 | 12.60 |
Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Eagle Financial Services. Eagle Financial Services is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ameris Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Volatility and Risk
Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 1.02, meaning that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Eagle Financial Services has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Ameris Bancorp beats Eagle Financial Services on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Ameris Bancorp
Ameris Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Ameris Bank that provides range of banking services to retail and commercial customers. It operates through five segments: Banking Division, Retail Mortgage Division, Warehouse Lending Division, SBA Division, and Premium Finance Division. The company offers commercial and retail checking, regular interest-bearing savings, money market, individual retirement, and certificates of deposit accounts. It also provides commercial real estate, residential real estate mortgage, agricultural, and commercial and industrial loans; consumer loans, including motor vehicle, home improvement, and home equity loans, as well as loans secured by savings accounts and personal credit lines. In addition, the company originates, administers, and services commercial insurance premium loans, equipment finance loans, and small business administration loans. It operates full service domestic banking offices, and mortgage and loan production offices. The company was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
About Eagle Financial Services
Eagle Financial Services, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Bank of Clarke that provides various retail and commercial banking products and services in the Shenandoah Valley, Northern Virginia and Frederick, Maryland. It operates through three segments: Community Banking, Marine Lending, and Wealth Management. The company's deposit products include checking, NOW, money market, and regular savings accounts; and demand and time deposits. Its loan portfolio comprises one-to-four-family residential real estate, commercial real estate, construction and land development, and commercial and industrial loans, as well as secured and unsecured consumer loans, which include personal installment loans, personal lines of credit, automobile loans, and credit card loans. The company also offers fiduciary services; advisory services and investment products, including individual retirement accounts, mutual funds, tax-deferred annuities, 529 college savings plans, life insurance, long term care insurance, brokerage certificates of deposit, and other brokerage services; non-deposit investment products; and title insurance products. In addition, it provides ATM and debit cards; online bill payment services; wealth management services; and telephone, internet, and mobile banking services, as well as other commercial deposit account services, such as ACH origination and remote deposit capture services. The company operates through full-service branches, loan production offices, drive-through only facility, and ATM locations in the Virginia communities of Berryville, Winchester, Boyce, Stephens City, Purcellville, Warrenton, Leesburg, Ashburn, and Fairfax, as well as Maryland community of Frederick. Eagle Financial Services, Inc. was founded in 1881 and is headquartered in Berryville, Virginia.
Receive News & Ratings for Ameris Bancorp Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ameris Bancorp and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.