Bank of Montreal Can Purchases 15,931 Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 51.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,152 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,931 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned approximately 0.07% of Ameris Bancorp worth $2,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 249.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 713 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 66.1% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 819 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 33.5% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 3,396.4% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,923 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 1,868 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 $69.34 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company’s 50-day moving average is $65.43 and its 200 day moving average is $58.63. Ameris Bancorp has a 1 year low of $44.00 and a 1 year high of $74.56.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.13. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 20.08% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The firm had revenue of $424.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.60 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is 12.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total transaction of $559,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,918,610.04. This represents a 22.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ABCB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stephens upped their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.17.

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.