Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases 258 Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 2.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 12,503 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,560,371 shares of the bank’s stock worth $365,771,000 after purchasing an additional 92,491 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,869,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 164.8% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 119,164 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,765,000 after acquiring an additional 74,165 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $2,462,000. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 18.6% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 290,033 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,603,000 after purchasing an additional 45,450 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ABCB opened at $71.14 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a PE ratio of 14.82 and a beta of 1.01. Ameris Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $38.71 and a fifty-two week high of $71.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $61.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.65.

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

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. 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 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 for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens raised their price objective on 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 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $61.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.67.

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.