Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $70.24 and last traded at $70.09, with a volume of 25337 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $62.57.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ABCB. StockNews.com raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $61.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.67.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $4.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.73 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.65.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $424.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.60 million. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 20.08% and a return on equity of 9.18%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.50%.

Institutional Trading of Ameris Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 130.7% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,169 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $589,000 after purchasing an additional 6,895 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC purchased a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $278,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 181.3% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 52,029 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,517,000 after buying an additional 33,531 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 87,499 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,258,000 after buying an additional 3,560 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 56,626 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,740,000 after buying an additional 554 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

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.