Ameris Bancorp’s (ABCB) Equal Weight Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reissued their equal weight rating on shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $53.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com cut Ameris Bancorp from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a buy rating on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Monday, January 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $52.00.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Ameris Bancorp stock opened at $48.50 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Ameris Bancorp has a 12-month low of $28.33 and a 12-month high of $53.99. The business’s 50 day moving average is $46.61 and its 200-day moving average is $46.34.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The bank reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $267.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.05 million. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 18.06% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameris Bancorp

In related news, insider Jon S. Edwards sold 7,500 shares of Ameris Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.35, for a total transaction of $355,125.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,826,368.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ameris Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABCB. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Ameris Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $203,000. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in Ameris Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $205,000. Xponance Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $211,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $218,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameris Bancorp Company Profile

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.