Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $66.67.

A number of research analysts recently commented on ABCB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Raymond James raised Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th.

Insider Transactions at Ameris Bancorp

In other news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total transaction of $559,280.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,918,610.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ameris Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 208.0% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 83,393 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,203,000 after acquiring an additional 56,320 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 14.0% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 20,295 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,486 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 32.5% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 142,122 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,867,000 after acquiring an additional 34,881 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 9.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 907,140 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,596,000 after acquiring an additional 79,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 152.3% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 15,599 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $973,000 after acquiring an additional 9,417 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ABCB opened at $70.51 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $62.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a PE ratio of 14.69 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Ameris Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $38.83 and a fifty-two week high of $72.68.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $424.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.60 million. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 20.08%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.50%.

Ameris Bancorp Company Profile

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.