Public Sector Pension Investment Board Acquires 30,533 Shares of Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 13.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 250,505 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,533 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $18,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its position in Ameris Bancorp by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 394,563 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,925,000 after purchasing an additional 56,852 shares in the last quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $1,663,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 17.9% during the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 86,422 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,336,000 after buying an additional 13,129 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 2.8% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 969,680 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $71,087,000 after acquiring an additional 26,639 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 98,682.6% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 351,666 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,780,000 after acquiring an additional 351,310 shares during the period. 91.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on ABCB. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. DA Davidson set a $94.00 price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler set a $84.00 target price on Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up from $73.00) on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.50.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:ABCB opened at $83.99 on Friday. Ameris Bancorp has a 52 week low of $48.27 and a 52 week high of $87.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $79.27 and a 200 day moving average of $75.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12 and a beta of 0.99.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.03. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 21.46% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The business had revenue of $309.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $310.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.33%.

Ameris Bancorp declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, October 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to reacquire up to 4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.