Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Shares Purchased by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 863,294 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,054 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $53,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ABCB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $61.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Stephens lifted their target price on 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 raised shares of 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, Truist Financial reduced 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 27,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,918,610.04. This trade represents a 22.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ ABCB opened at $69.62 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 1 year low of $40.71 and a 1 year high of $72.68. The company has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a PE ratio of 14.50 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $63.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.64.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last released its earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $290.60 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.50%.

Ameris Bancorp 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.