California State Teachers Retirement System Grows Stock Holdings in Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 21.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 75,346 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 13,486 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $5,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABCB. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Ameris Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in Ameris Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $76,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 316.9% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,059 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 805 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ABCB opened at $88.91 on Thursday. 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 fifty day moving average of $88.33 and a 200 day moving average of $83.85. The firm has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a PE ratio of 17.07 and a beta of 0.91. Ameris Bancorp has a one year low of $65.90 and a one year high of $93.22.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 21.46% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The company had revenue of $317.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $323.78 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.59 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 (DPR) is currently 14.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ABCB. Raymond James Financial downgraded Ameris Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley raised Ameris Bancorp to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Stephens set a $88.00 price objective on Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective 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, July 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut 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, July 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.67.

Ameris Bancorp Profile

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.