First Eagle Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 203,614 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,050 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $15,122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 547 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $724,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EJF Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 5,754 shares of the bank’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. 91.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Down 1.7%

NASDAQ ABCB opened at $85.04 on Tuesday. Ameris Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $59.54 and a fifty-two 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.55. The stock has a market cap of $5.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.32 and a beta of 0.93.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.09. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 21.46%.The business had revenue of $314.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $309.58 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on ABCB. DA Davidson raised their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. 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 report on Monday, February 2nd. Truist Financial raised their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.17.

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.