Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $66.67.

ABCB has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stephens boosted their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective 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 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th.

Insider Transactions at Ameris Bancorp

In other news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total transaction of $559,280.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameris Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Ameris Bancorp by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 45,663 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,210,000 after purchasing an additional 2,443 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 7.8% in the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 27,324 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,322,000 after buying an additional 1,982 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 66.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 819 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 15.9% during the second quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 11,502 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $579,000 after acquiring an additional 1,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Ameris Bancorp stock opened at $70.28 on Friday. Ameris Bancorp has a 1 year low of $42.25 and a 1 year high of $74.56. The company has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.25. 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 (NASDAQ:ABCB) last announced 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 business had revenue of $424.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.50%.

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.