Summit Creek Advisors LLC Sells 6,838 Shares of Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

Summit Creek Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 206,888 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 6,838 shares during the period. Ameris Bancorp makes up about 2.4% of Summit Creek Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Summit Creek Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $15,366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 9,054 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $672,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,231 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 6,294 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 547 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,730 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $724,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. 91.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ABCB shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Stephens raised their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.17.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of ABCB stock opened at $84.68 on Thursday. Ameris Bancorp has a 52-week low of $59.54 and a 52-week high of $87.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.25 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $81.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.07.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.09. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 21.46%.The firm had revenue of $314.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.58 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.58%.

About Ameris Bancorp

Ameris Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its principal subsidiary, Ameris Bank, the company offers a broad range of commercial and retail banking services to individuals, small businesses, middle market companies and agricultural customers. Its core business lines encompass deposit services, lending solutions, treasury management, mortgage origination and servicing, insurance products and wealth management.

Ameris Bancorp operates a network of branches and loan production offices across the southeastern United States, including Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.