Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Short Interest Down 15.2% in June

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 924,200 shares, a decrease of 15.2% from the June 15th total of 1,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 298,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameris Bancorp

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABCB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,560,371 shares of the bank’s stock worth $365,771,000 after buying an additional 92,491 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,193,610 shares of the bank’s stock worth $222,473,000 after purchasing an additional 205,750 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,514,293 shares of the bank’s stock worth $133,383,000 after purchasing an additional 201,644 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 3.0% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,254,903 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $60,712,000 after purchasing an additional 36,873 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 50.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 845,390 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,848,000 after purchasing an additional 283,138 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABCB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.00.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Up 3.0 %

Ameris Bancorp stock opened at $56.15 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.04. Ameris Bancorp has a 1 year low of $34.26 and a 1 year high of $57.52. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $49.18 and its 200-day moving average is $48.51. The company has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.66 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $267.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.05 million. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 18.06% and a return on equity of 8.62%. Ameris Bancorp’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 14.60%.

About Ameris Bancorp

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.