Financial Contrast: Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) and West Coast Community Bancorp (OTCMKTS:SCZC)

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) and West Coast Community Bancorp (OTCMKTS:SCZC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ameris Bancorp and West Coast Community Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ameris Bancorp	$1.16 billion	4.67	$358.68 million	$5.78	13.66
West Coast Community Bancorp	$123.69 million	3.79	$29.58 million	$3.39	13.05

Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than West Coast Community Bancorp. West Coast Community Bancorp 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

Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. West Coast Community Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Ameris Bancorp pays out 13.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. West Coast Community Bancorp pays out 23.6% 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.

Profitability

This table compares Ameris Bancorp and West Coast Community Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%
West Coast Community Bancorp	23.91%	N/A	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.7% of West Coast Community Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.5% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, West Coast Community Bancorp has a beta of 0.49, suggesting that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Ameris Bancorp and West Coast Community Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ameris Bancorp	0	2	5	0	2.71
West Coast Community Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00

Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $79.00, suggesting a potential upside of 0.08%. Given Ameris Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Ameris Bancorp is more favorable than West Coast Community Bancorp.

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats West Coast Community Bancorp on 14 of the 16 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 West Coast Community Bancorp

West Coast Community Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Santa Cruz County Bank that provides a range of commercial and personal banking services to residents and businesses in the United States. It offers checking, savings, money market, certificate of deposits, and health savings accounts; and individual retirement account and retirement plans. The company also provides lending products, including real estate commercial property, construction, asset-based, lines of credit, SBA loans, 504 loan program, business and industry, farm services agency, agricultural, and wine industry lending. In addition, it provides debit and credit cards, merchant services, online and mobile banking, remote deposit services, wire and ACH manager, treasury management, payment, and cash management services. West Coast Community Bancorp was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Santa Cruz, California.