EP Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 6,677 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $417,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Ameris Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 249.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 713 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 33.5% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 38.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,130 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 3,396.4% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,923 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 1,868 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Down 0.4 %

ABCB stock opened at $67.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.66 billion, a PE ratio of 14.04 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Ameris Bancorp has a 52 week low of $44.00 and a 52 week high of $74.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $66.44 and a 200 day moving average of $59.44.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $424.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $290.60 million. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 20.08%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABCB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens raised their target price 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.17.

Insider Activity at Ameris Bancorp

In other news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total transaction of $559,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,444 shares in the company, valued at $1,918,610.04. This trade represents a 22.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Ameris Bancorp

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.