Critical Analysis: Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) versus Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) and Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Metropolitan Bank and Ameris Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Metropolitan Bank	0	0	4	0	3.00
Ameris Bancorp	0	1	5	0	2.83

Metropolitan Bank presently has a consensus target price of $66.38, indicating a potential upside of 0.17%. Ameris Bancorp has a consensus target price of $66.67, indicating a potential downside of 6.59%. Given Metropolitan Bank’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Metropolitan Bank is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.

Risk and Volatility

Metropolitan Bank has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its share price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 1.01, meaning that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

79.8% of Metropolitan Bank shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 6.5% of Metropolitan Bank shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.5% 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 is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Metropolitan Bank and Ameris Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Metropolitan Bank	$403.31 million	1.84	$76.90 million	$5.32	12.45
Ameris Bancorp	$1.08 billion	4.58	$269.11 million	$4.80	14.87

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Metropolitan Bank	12.47%	10.02%	0.94%
Ameris Bancorp	20.08%	9.18%	1.25%

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats Metropolitan Bank on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Metropolitan Bank

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Metropolitan Commercial Bank that provides a range of business, commercial, and retail banking products and services to small businesses, middle-market enterprises, public entities, and individuals in the New York metropolitan area. The company offers checking, savings, term deposit, money market, demand deposit, and other interest-bearing transaction accounts. It also provides lending products, including commercial real estate, multi-family, construction, and one-to four-family real estate loans; commercial and industrial loans; consumer loans; acquisition and renovation loans; loans to refinance or return borrower equity; loans on owner-occupied properties; working capital lines of credit; trade finance and letters of credit; and term loans. In addition, the company offers cash management services, as well as online and mobile banking, ACH, remote deposit capture, and debit cards. The company was formerly known as Metbank Holding Corp. and changed its name to Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. in January 2007. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

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.