Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Lowers Holdings in Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 6.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 677,608 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 50,078 shares during the quarter. Ameris Bancorp comprises 0.7% of Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC owned approximately 1.01% of Ameris Bancorp worth $52,847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABCB. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,308 shares of the bank’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 9,365 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $696,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 1.6% in the 4th 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 period. Lido Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 6,456 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $476,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 14,639 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Ameris Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Stephens set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Monday. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.67.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ ABCB opened at $87.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $5.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.78 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $88.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.62. Ameris Bancorp has a 1-year low of $65.43 and a 1-year high of $93.22.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.66 by ($0.06). Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 21.46%.The business had revenue of $317.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $323.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.59 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 14.47%.

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.