Trust Co. of Oklahoma Invests $600,000 in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Trust Co. of Oklahoma acquired a new position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 9,591 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $600,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Ameris Bancorp by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 863,294 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,861,000 after purchasing an additional 12,054 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 4.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,263,487 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $78,829,000 after buying an additional 55,473 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Ameris Bancorp by 13.9% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 21,107 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,317,000 after buying an additional 2,575 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 135.5% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 115,194 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,187,000 after acquiring an additional 66,287 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $233,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ABCB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the business’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 value of $559,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,444 shares in the company, valued at $1,918,610.04. The trade was a 22.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Ameris Bancorp stock opened at $64.43 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.90 and a beta of 1.06. Ameris Bancorp has a 12-month low of $44.22 and a 12-month high of $74.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.52.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.13. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 20.08%. The business had revenue of $424.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Ameris Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.67%.

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.