Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Stake Lifted by BNP Paribas Financial Markets

BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 22,781 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,225 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $1,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABCB. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the second quarter worth $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Ameris Bancorp by 66.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 819 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 249.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 713 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 33.5% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 3,396.4% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,923 shares of the bank’s stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 1,868 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Ameris Bancorp Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:ABCB opened at $69.39 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $65.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.04. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a PE ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 1.03. Ameris Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $44.00 and a fifty-two week 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.13. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 20.08% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The company had revenue of $424.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on ABCB. Raymond James raised Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.17.

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.