Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $63.20.

ABCB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $52.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler lifted 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. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $61.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameris Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ameris Bancorp by 1.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position 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 during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance increased 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. lifted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,254,903 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $60,712,000 after buying an additional 36,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 50.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 845,390 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,848,000 after buying an additional 283,138 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Ameris Bancorp stock traded down $0.51 on Monday, hitting $61.20. The stock had a trading volume of 73,260 shares, compared to its average volume of 363,978. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.05. Ameris Bancorp has a one year low of $34.26 and a one year high of $64.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.89 and a beta of 1.04.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.03. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 19.28% and a return on equity of 8.97%. The firm had revenue of $436.03 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $273.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend 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.