Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 3.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,208,014 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 46,889 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $60,824,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $143,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 32,600 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Summit Global Investments lifted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 15,066 shares of the bank’s stock worth $759,000 after acquiring an additional 1,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 461.0% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 21,992 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,107,000 after acquiring an additional 18,072 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Up 1.4 %

ABCB stock traded up $0.87 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $61.50. 343,955 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 356,409. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $56.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.48. The company has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.96 and a beta of 1.04. Ameris Bancorp has a 52 week low of $34.26 and a 52 week high of $64.88.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.03. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.97% and a net margin of 19.28%. The company had revenue of $436.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $273.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 30th were issued 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 0.98%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $54.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $61.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $52.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.20.

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.