Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $69.17.

ABCB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ABCB opened at $64.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.51 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $66.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.28. Ameris Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $44.22 and a fifty-two week high of $74.56.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $290.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a positive change from Ameris Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of Ameris Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total transaction of $559,280.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,444 shares in the company, valued at $1,918,610.04. This trade represents a 22.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 5.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameris Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 55,473 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 9.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 907,140 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,596,000 after purchasing an additional 79,060 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 1.4% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 863,294 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,861,000 after purchasing an additional 12,054 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 2.5% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 809,338 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,495,000 after purchasing an additional 19,506 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 9.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 728,253 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $45,436,000 after purchasing an additional 60,448 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.