Everence Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Everence Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 19.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,014 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,410 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 851,240 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,860,000 after purchasing an additional 13,418 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Ameris Bancorp by 4.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,263,487 shares of the bank’s stock worth $78,829,000 after acquiring an additional 55,473 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 21,107 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,317,000 after acquiring an additional 2,575 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $1,059,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 135.5% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 115,194 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,187,000 after acquiring an additional 66,287 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ ABCB opened at $62.35 on Tuesday. Ameris Bancorp has a 12 month low of $44.00 and a 12 month high of $74.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.99 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $66.60 and its 200 day moving average is $61.47.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Ameris Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 16.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABCB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. 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 report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.