Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Sells 4,218 Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC trimmed its position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 669,192 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 4,218 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $41,751,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 25,065 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth $311,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 62,566 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,903,000 after acquiring an additional 3,005 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 23,599 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,472,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $232,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ameris Bancorp

In related news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of Ameris Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total transaction of $559,280.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,918,610.04. This trade represents a 22.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ABCB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com raised Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $61.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.67.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of ABCB opened at $68.71 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.31 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $63.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.19. Ameris Bancorp has a 12 month low of $40.71 and a 12 month high of $72.68.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 20.08% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The company had revenue of $424.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. Analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.50%.

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.