Critical Survey: Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) versus Eagle Financial Services (OTCMKTS:EFSI)

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

Dividends

Eagle Financial Services pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Ameris Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. Eagle Financial Services pays out 45.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ameris Bancorp pays out 14.6% 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.

Risk & Volatility

Eagle Financial Services has a beta of 0.47, suggesting that its stock price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 1.02, suggesting that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Eagle Financial Services and Ameris Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Eagle Financial Services	$97.87 million	1.20	$9.36 million	$2.65	12.45
Ameris Bancorp	$1.06 billion	4.16	$269.11 million	$4.11	15.59

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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Eagle Financial Services and Ameris Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Eagle Financial Services	0	0	0	0	N/A
Ameris Bancorp	0	1	4	0	2.80

Ameris Bancorp has a consensus target price of $67.00, indicating a potential upside of 4.56%. Given Ameris Bancorp’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Ameris Bancorp is more favorable than Eagle Financial Services.

Profitability

This table compares Eagle Financial Services and Ameris Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Eagle Financial Services	10.05%	9.75%	0.58%
Ameris Bancorp	19.28%	8.97%	1.20%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.3% of Eagle Financial Services shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.3% of Eagle Financial Services shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.5% of Ameris Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats Eagle Financial Services on 12 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.