Critical Contrast: Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY) & Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Signature Bank (NASDAQ:SBNY) 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 dividends, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Signature Bank and Ameris Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Signature Bank	0	0	0	0	0.00
Ameris Bancorp	0	1	4	1	3.00

Ameris Bancorp has a consensus target price of $77.33, suggesting a potential upside of 6.17%. Given Ameris Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Ameris Bancorp is more favorable than Signature Bank.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

11.1% of Signature Bank shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Signature Bank shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Signature Bank has a beta of 11.52, suggesting that its share price is 1,052% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 1.04, suggesting that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Signature Bank and Ameris Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Signature Bank	$2.70 billion	0.02	$1.34 billion	$10.22	0.07
Ameris Bancorp	$1.16 billion	4.30	$358.68 million	$5.78	12.60

Signature Bank has higher revenue and earnings than Ameris Bancorp. Signature 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.

Dividends

Signature Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 102.9%. Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Signature Bank pays out 6.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ameris Bancorp pays out 13.8% 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. Signature Bank is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

This table compares Signature Bank and Ameris Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Signature Bank	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats Signature Bank on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Signature Bank

As of March 12, 2023, Signature Bank went out of business. Previously, the company provided digital assets banking services and comprised of certain loan portfolios. The company was incorporated in 2000 and is based in New York, New York. Signature Bank now trades on OTCPK.

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.