Trust Co. of Oklahoma Takes $600,000 Position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Trust Co. of Oklahoma purchased a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 9,591 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $600,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ABCB. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 7.6% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 69,266 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,488,000 after purchasing an additional 4,909 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $308,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $311,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 142,388 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,169,000 after buying an additional 9,762 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. bought a new position in Ameris Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $210,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Down 1.8 %

Ameris Bancorp stock opened at $64.43 on Thursday. 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 has a 1-year low of $44.22 and a 1-year high of $74.56. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.52. The company has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.90 and a beta of 1.06.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 20.08%. The company had revenue of $424.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $290.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. Research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is 16.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABCB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating 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. Raymond James upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total transaction of $559,280.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,444 shares in the company, valued at $1,918,610.04. The trade was a 22.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

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.