Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $69.17.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ABCB shares. Stephens increased their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James upgraded 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now owns 27,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,918,610.04. This represents a 22.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameris Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Ameris Bancorp by 249.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 713 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Ameris Bancorp by 38.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,130 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $98,000. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 3,396.4% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,923 shares of the bank’s stock worth $120,000 after acquiring an additional 1,868 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 105.8% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,696 shares of the bank’s stock worth $168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,386 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Up 1.6 %

ABCB stock opened at $64.86 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.51 and a beta of 1.06. Ameris Bancorp has a 52 week low of $44.22 and a 52 week high of $74.56. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $66.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.13. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 20.08% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The company had revenue of $424.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a positive change from Ameris Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 16.67%.

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.