Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $1.25 Million Position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,591 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 347 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $1,252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ABCB. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 11.1% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,565 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. KLR Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ameris Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Xponance Inc. acquired a new position in Ameris Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in Ameris Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $218,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ameris Bancorp

In related news, insider Jon S. Edwards sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.35, for a total transaction of $355,125.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 59,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,826,368.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ABCB opened at $49.63 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $47.05 and its 200-day moving average is $46.83. Ameris Bancorp has a 1-year low of $28.39 and a 1-year high of $53.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 1.04.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.06. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 18.06%. The firm had revenue of $267.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 8th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ABCB. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Monday, January 15th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.00.

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.