Ameris Bancorp (ABCB) stock analysis

P/E above its 5-year median

Ameris Bancorp's P/E of 14.5 is above its own 5-year median of 11.7.

P/E above the industry

Ameris Bancorp's P/E of 14.5 is above the Commercial Banks median of 12.1.

P/S above the industry

Ameris Bancorp's price-to-sales of 4.39 is above the Commercial Banks median of 3.60.

P/B above the industry

Ameris Bancorp's price-to-book of 1.35 is above the Commercial Banks median of 1.29.

Trading above fair value

The share price of $82.96 is above our fair value estimate of $71.02.

Margin of safety under 20%

The price is 16.8% above fair value, so there is no margin of safety.

Revenue growing under 10% a year

Revenue grew 3.6% a year over the last three fiscal years, short of the 10% we look for.

EPS growing under 10% a year

Diluted EPS grew 6.3% a year over the last three fiscal years.

Earnings growth not accelerating

Net income grew -3.0% over the last twelve months, against a 5-year average of 9.5% a year.

Growing slower than the industry

Revenue grew 6.5% over the last twelve months; the Commercial Banks median is 11.3%.

Company guidance

No outlook found in earnings releases from the last twelve months.

Gross margin trend

Banks and insurers do not report gross profit.

Return on equity under 15%

Return on equity was 9.5% over the last twelve months and averaged 10.7% over five years; we look for 15% on both.

Return on assets over 1%

Return on assets was 1.4%; for a bank or insurer, 1% or more is considered good.

Return on equity below the industry

Ameris Bancorp's return on equity of 9.5% is below the Commercial Banks median of 11.5%.

Earnings grew over 5 years

Net income grew 9.5% a year on average over the last five fiscal years.

Net margin below its 5-year average

Net margin was 30.4% over the last twelve months, against a 5-year average of 31.9%.

Net margin above the industry

Ameris Bancorp's net margin of 30.4% is above the Commercial Banks median of 30.3%.

Well capitalized

Equity is 14.4% of total assets; 8% or more is a comfortable cushion.

Loans funded by deposits

Loans equal 96.0% of deposits, so lending is funded by customer deposits.

Adequate loan-loss reserve

The allowance for credit losses is 1.6% of loans; we look for at least 1%.

Efficient operations

Non-interest expense takes 55.3% of revenue; under 60% is efficient for a bank.

Deposits growing

Deposits grew 3.1% over the past year.

Borrowings

Needs debt and equity figures.

Pays a dividend

Ameris Bancorp paid dividends worth 1.0% of the share price over the last twelve months.

Yield below Treasuries

The 1.0% yield is below the 4.4% on a 1-year Treasury.

Yield below the top quarter

The top quarter of US dividend payers yield 3.8% or more; Ameris Bancorp yields 1.0%.

Dividend not cut

The dividend per share has not fallen by more than 10% in any of the last 10 fiscal years.

Covered by earnings

Dividends take 14.1% of net income.

Covered by free cash flow

Dividends take 8.6% of free cash flow.