Bay Banks of Virginia (OTCMKTS:BAYK) & Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Critical Analysis

Bay Banks of Virginia (OTCMKTS:BAYK) and Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 7.6% of Bay Banks of Virginia shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Bay Banks of Virginia and Ameris Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bay Banks of Virginia	0	0	0	0	0.00
Ameris Bancorp	0	1	4	1	3.00

Ameris Bancorp has a consensus price target of $77.33, suggesting a potential upside of 5.06%. Given Ameris Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Ameris Bancorp is more favorable than Bay Banks of Virginia.

Profitability

This table compares Bay Banks of Virginia and Ameris Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bay Banks of Virginia	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ameris Bancorp	21.46%	9.57%	1.32%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Bay Banks of Virginia and Ameris Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bay Banks of Virginia	$55.38 million	2.27	$7.06 million	N/A	N/A
Ameris Bancorp	$1.18 billion	4.28	$358.68 million	$5.78	12.73

Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Bay Banks of Virginia.

Summary

Ameris Bancorp beats Bay Banks of Virginia on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bay Banks of Virginia

Bay Banks of Virginia, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services to businesses, professionals, and consumers in Virginia. The company accepts checking accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, cash management accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement accounts. Its loan products include commercial and industrial loans, such as small business loans, asset based loans, and other secured and unsecured loans and lines of credit; purchased loans; residential and commercial mortgages; home equity loans; consumer installment loans; and consumer loans comprising automobile and boat financing, home improvement loans, and unsecured personal loans. The company also provides credit cards; and insurance, online banking, telephone banking, mobile banking, analysis checking, cash management deposit, wire, direct deposit payroll, lockbox, positive pay, and remote deposit services, as well as a line of commercial lending options. In addition, it offers management services, including estate planning and settlement, as well as trust administration, investment, and wealth management services; and revocable and irrevocable living trusts, testamentary trusts, custodial accounts, investment planning, brokerage services, investment managed accounts, and managed and self-directed rollover individual retirement accounts for personal and corporate trusts. As of March 9, 2020, the company operated 17 banking offices located throughout greater Richmond region, the Northern Neck region, Middlesex County, and the Hampton Roads region. Bay Banks of Virginia, Inc. was founded in 1930 and is headquartered in Richmond, 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.