Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $69.17.

ABCB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James upgraded Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of ABCB stock opened at $63.58 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.54. 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 1-year low of $44.00 and a 1-year high of $74.56. The firm has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Ameris Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. This is an increase from Ameris Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameris Bancorp news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of Ameris Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total value of $559,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,444 shares in the company, valued at $1,918,610.04. The trade was a 22.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ameris Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 907,140 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,596,000 after buying an additional 79,060 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 107.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 140,001 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,735,000 after acquiring an additional 72,599 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 135.5% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 115,194 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,187,000 after purchasing an additional 66,287 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 208.0% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 83,393 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,203,000 after purchasing an additional 56,320 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 4.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,263,487 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $78,829,000 after purchasing an additional 55,473 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

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.