Quest Partners LLC Sells 44,787 Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Quest Partners LLC decreased its position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 82.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,391 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 44,787 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Ameris Bancorp by 249.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 713 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 66.1% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 819 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 33.5% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,868 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Up 2.9 %

NASDAQ ABCB opened at $71.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Ameris Bancorp has a 12 month low of $41.00 and a 12 month high of $72.68. The company has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a PE ratio of 14.96 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.50.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $424.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 12.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 owns 27,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,918,610.04. This represents a 22.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABCB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial decreased their price objective 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. Stephens boosted their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report 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 target on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ameris Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.67.

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.