Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB – Get Rating) and Ally Financial (NYSE:ALLY – Get Rating) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, risk and dividends.

Volatility & Risk

Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 1.19, indicating that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ally Financial has a beta of 1.33, indicating that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ameris Bancorp and Ally Financial's revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

88.2% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.4% of Ally Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.5% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Ally Financial 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Ameris Bancorp and Ally Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

Ameris Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $52.50, indicating a potential upside of 5.49%. Ally Financial has a consensus target price of $50.64, indicating a potential upside of 44.04%. Given Ally Financial's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Ally Financial is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Ameris Bancorp and Ally Financial's net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Dividends

Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Ally Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Ameris Bancorp pays out 12.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ally Financial pays out 17.3% 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. Ally Financial has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years. Ally Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Ally Financial beats Ameris Bancorp on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ameris Bancorp

(Get Rating)

Ameris Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Ameris Bank that provides range of banking services to retail and commercial customers primarily in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The company operates through five segments: Banking Division, Retail Mortgage Division, Warehouse Lending Division, SBA Division, and Premium Finance Division. It offers commercial and retail checking, regular interest-bearing savings, money market, individual retirement, and certificates of deposit accounts. The company 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 small unsecured personal credit lines. In addition, it originates, administers, and services commercial insurance premium loans and small business administration loans. The company operates 165 full service domestic banking offices and 35 mortgage and loan production offices. Ameris Bancorp was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

About Ally Financial

(Get Rating)

Ally Financial Inc., a digital financial-services company, provides various digital financial products and services to consumer, commercial, and corporate customers primarily in the United States and Canada. It operates through four segments: Automotive Finance Operations, Insurance Operations, Mortgage Finance Operations, and Corporate Finance Operations. The Automotive Finance Operations segment offers automotive financing services, including providing retail installment sales contracts, loans and operating leases, term loans to dealers, financing dealer floorplans and other lines of credit to dealers, warehouse lines to automotive retailers, and fleet financing. It also provides financing services to companies and municipalities for the purchase or lease of vehicles, and vehicle-remarketing services. The Insurance Operations segment offers consumer finance protection and insurance products through the automotive dealer channel, and commercial insurance products directly to dealers. This segment provides vehicle service and maintenance contract, and guaranteed asset protection products; and underwrites commercial insurance coverages, which primarily insure dealers' vehicle inventory. The Mortgage Finance Operations segment manages consumer mortgage loan portfolio that includes bulk purchases of jumbo and low-to-moderate income mortgage loans originated by third parties, as well as direct-to-consumer mortgage offerings. The Corporate Finance Operations segment provides senior secured leveraged cash flow and asset-based loans to middle market companies; leveraged loans; and commercial real estate product to serve companies in the healthcare industry. The company also offers commercial banking products and services. In addition, it provides securities brokerage and investment advisory services. The company was formerly known as GMAC Inc. and changed its name to Ally Financial Inc. in May 2010. Ally Financial Inc. was founded in 1919 and is based in Detroit, Michigan.

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